Beopseoryeon: "Public Disclosure of 'Park Won-soon Victim' Real Name is Human Rights Violation and Secondary Harm"... Human Rights Commission Petition

Lee Jong-bae, representative of the Rule of Law Restoration Action Alliance, is holding a press conference on the 28th in front of the National Human Rights Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, ahead of submitting a petition regarding human rights violations related to the handwritten letter from the sexual harassment victim of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The Action Alliance for the Restoration of the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon) held a press conference on the 28th in front of the National Human Rights Commission in Jung-gu, Seoul, and filed a complaint alleging that Professor Kim Min-woong of Kyung Hee University and former Seoul City Personnel Planning Secretary Min Kyung-guk violated the human rights of Mr. A.

Beopse-ryeon stated, "Professor Kim disclosed the victim's handwritten letter with an impure motive to influence the investigation," and requested that the Human Rights Commission recommend that Professor Kim and former Secretary Min receive human rights education.

The organization explained, "The handwritten letter was collectively written by employees to celebrate former Mayor Park's birthday," and added, "The act of writing the letter or its content should not be used to distort the facts of the case." They continued, "The disclosure of the victim's handwritten letter is a clear secondary harm," and criticized, "Some groups are not viewing and judging the Park Won-soon sexual harassment case as it is, but are trapped in factional logic, misleading the essence by tactics such as revealing the victim's letter, causing continuous pain to the victim."

Earlier, Professor Kim Min-woong of Kyung Hee University's Future Civilization Institute and former Seoul City Personnel Planning Secretary Min Kyung-guk exposed Mr. A's real name by posting a handwritten letter sent by Mr. A to former Mayor Park on Facebook on the 23rd.

In response, Mr. A's legal representative, Attorney Kim Jae-ryeon, filed a complaint with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on the 24th, citing "Violation of Article 24 of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes, prohibiting disclosure of the victim's identity and privacy."