Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's 'Sexual Harassment Allegation' Lawsuit Likely to End with 'No Prosecution' Decision

Photo by Song Seung-yoon

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Following the discovery of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon found dead on the 10th, the sexual harassment accusation case filed by a former secretary is also expected to be closed.

According to the police, Park's former secretary, Mr. A, had earlier visited the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 8th with a lawyer to file a sexual harassment complaint against Mayor Park. Mr. A was questioned until early morning that day.

Mr. A, who worked as Mayor Park's secretary in 2017, reportedly testified that he was frequently sexually harassed by Mayor Park. It was also reported that Mayor Park sent several personal photos via his cellphone Telegram and submitted the conversation records as evidence. The police had only received the complainant's statement and were reviewing an investigation into Mayor Park.

However, with Mayor Park found dead, Mr. A's accusation case will be closed due to "lack of prosecution rights." According to the Prosecutor's Office Case Handling Regulations, if a suspect under investigation dies, the prosecutor must dismiss the case as "lack of prosecution rights."

Meanwhile, it was confirmed that Mayor Park left the mayoral residence located in Gahoe-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, at 10:44 a.m. the previous day and arrived at Waryong Park around 10:53 a.m.

Later, at around 5:17 p.m., Mayor Park's daughter reported to 112 that "my father left home about 4 to 5 hours ago after leaving what seemed like a will-like message, but his phone is turned off," filing a missing person report.

The police and fire department, who began the search, found Mayor Park's body near Samcheonggak at 12:01 a.m. after 7 hours.

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