"How Did Secretary Know Late Park Won-soon's Phone Password? Flood of Secondary Harms"

Hwang Kyo-ik "Complainant Refuses Investigation... Difficult to Obtain Further Information"
Sohn Hye-won "How Did the Victim Know the Password?"

Kim Hye-jung, Deputy Director of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, is speaking at the "Second Press Conference on the Sexual Violence Case by the Mayor of Seoul" held at a location in Seoul on the morning of the 22nd. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] It has been reported that the password lock on the work phone of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was unlocked thanks to a tip-off from the victim's side. Meanwhile, some have sparked controversy over "secondary victimization" by making remarks such as "How did the secretary know (former Mayor Park's) password?"

Food columnist Hwang Kyo-ik wrote on his Facebook on the 23rd, "It is highly likely that the truth of the sexual harassment accusation against Park Won-soon will not be revealed," adding, "There is no way to know whether there is concrete evidence or not, and the accuser's side has no intention of presenting additional evidence."

He continued, "Due to the expiration of the statute of limitations, the police investigation will not proceed. Even if Park Won-soon's phone is forensically examined, evidence collection will be limited to the suicide case," and said, "Since the accuser's side refused investigations by the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Human Rights Commission, it will be difficult to obtain further information. There is no need to exert effort on what will not be revealed."

He also wrote, "We might end up being played by the accuser's political media play," and "I think I know one reason why Park Won-soon made such an extreme choice. It means 'Abandon me and quickly return to your daily life.'"

Taste columnist Hwang Kyo-ik. Photo by Yonhap News

Later, Mr. Hwang posted again on Facebook, saying, "'If you shout 'Me too,' people will pay attention to who that 'me' is. Then that 'me' introduces who they are and explains why it is 'too.'

He added, "The Me Too movement is about revealing oneself and exposing past incidents. Even before the Me Too movement, there were countless sexual crime accusations. If those sexual crime accusations had been conducted by revealing the accuser's identity like the Me Too movement, the Me Too movement might not have existed."

He further said, "The (former Mayor Park's case) is called a 'Me Too without revealing the face,'" adding, "It is awkward, like 'slow food sold at a fast-food restaurant.' Words should be used according to their conceptual meaning."

Former Open Democratic Party lawmaker Son Hye-won also raised doubts that day, asking, "How did the victim know Mayor Park's iPhone password?"

Some supporters of former Mayor Park also reacted in comments on related articles, saying things like "Isn't there a possibility of manipulation?" and "How could they have known the password?"

Meanwhile, former Mayor Park's work phone is an iPhone model, which is relatively secure and difficult to unlock the password.

The police reportedly unlocked the phone's lock easily thanks to a tip-off from the victim, the former secretary who raised the sexual harassment allegations against former Mayor Park.