"Park Won-soon Accuser Likely Revealed Only Part of the Victim's Case at Press Conference"

"It Must Have Been Burdensome to Reveal All Details of the Accusation at the Press Conference"

The portrait of the late Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, is arriving at Seoul City Hall on the morning of the 13th, where the funeral ceremony is being held. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Lim Joo-hyung] There are claims that the victim cases disclosed during the press conference by a person related to Ms. A, who accused the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexual harassment, may represent only a portion of the entire situation.

Seo Hye-jin, Human Rights Director of the Korean Women Lawyers Association, stated on YTN Radio's "No Young-hee's Start of a New Morning" on the 14th, "From what I saw, I think the content of yesterday's press conference was an extremely small part of the victim's testimony," adding, "It must have been quite burdensome to talk about everything."

She continued, "It seems that only some of the allegations specified in the complaint and those that were deemed appropriate to discuss were mentioned first," and explained, "I don't think the press conference will end with just one session yesterday. Since the investigation has not officially concluded, it would have been burdensome for the accuser to disclose all the allegations during the press conference."

She also pointed out, "Demanding excessively from the accuser by saying 'Does this count as evidence?' or 'Bring more concrete evidence' is a harsh request given the current situation of the accuser."

Earlier, on the 13th at 2 p.m., Attorney Kim Jae-ryeon, legal representative of Ms. A, held a press conference at the office of "Korean Women's Hotline" in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. At the event, Attorney Kim explained the specific methods of abuse by Mayor Park and disclosed some of the evidence.

He stated, "We had the first consultation with the victim on May 12, and through a second consultation on the 26th, we heard detailed accounts of the specific damages," adding, "The accuser was notified to work in the secretary's office and worked there for four years, but she never applied for the position of mayor's secretary."

While saying it was difficult to describe the detailed methods, he revealed, "Mayor Park physically made close contact with the victim when taking selfies in the office to 'make work enjoyable,' and upon seeing bruises on the victim's knee, he said 'I will take care of it' and pressed his lips against the knee."

Attorney Kim also showed a screenshot of messages sent by Mayor Park to Ms. A via the secret messenger app "Telegram" on his phone screen. He said, "Mayor Park called Ms. A into the bedroom inside the office for physical contact and continuously sent obscene messages through Telegram."