Following Ahn Hee-jung and Oh Keo-don, Mayor Park Won-soon Falls... Local Government Heads Toppled by 'Me Too'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Park Won-soon, the Mayor of Seoul, who was found dead after being reported missing for over seven hours, was recently confirmed to have been accused of sexual harassment by a former secretary. He is the third metropolitan government head involved in a 'Me too' case, following former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don.

The reason behind Mayor Park's extreme decision has not yet been confirmed, but considering there were no unusual signs in his administrative activities or public appearances, it is presumed that this accusation triggered a change in his state of mind.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, Mayor Park was accused of sexual harassment by former secretary A on the 8th, the day before he went missing. A, accompanied by a lawyer, filed the complaint with the police that night and was questioned until dawn.

A, who worked as Mayor Park's secretary in 2017, reportedly testified that she was frequently sexually harassed by him. It was also reported that Mayor Park sent several personal photos via Telegram on his mobile phone and submitted the conversation contents as evidence.

Previously, the sexual violence by former Governor Ahn Hee-jung was revealed on March 5, 2018, when his secretary Kim Ji-eun directly exposed it to the media. Although Ahn was acquitted in the first trial on August 2018 and released, he was sentenced to three years and six months in prison in the appeal trial last February and was taken into custody. He is currently serving his sentence at Gwangju Prison and was recently granted a five-day suspension of execution due to his mother's death before being re-incarcerated.

Former Mayor Oh Keo-don admitted to sexually harassing a female public official on April 23 and abruptly resigned. On May 28, the Busan District Prosecutors' Office requested an arrest warrant for Oh on charges of forced molestation, but the Busan District Court dismissed it, and Oh is currently under investigation without detention.