[Summary] Opposition Calls Park Won-soon in Kim Jong-chul Sexual Harassment Case: "Justice Party Better Than Ruling Party in 'Collective Secondary Harm'"

Na Kyung-won "Clearly Different from the Ruling Party That Stigmatized the Victim"
Oh Shin-hwan "Justice Party Stands by Principles... Confusion Will Be Resolved"

Kim Jong-cheol, leader of the Justice Party, who resigned from the party leadership on the 25th due to a sexual harassment incident involving party member Jang Hye-young. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Amid the suspension of Justice Party leader Kim Jong-cheol over allegations of sexual harassment against a party lawmaker, opposition candidates for the Seoul mayoral by-election have brought up the sexual harassment allegations against the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon. They criticized the Democratic Party by comparing the ruling party's and Justice Party's responses after the Park incident and called for strict measures against sexual misconduct by high-ranking public officials.

Former People Power Party lawmaker Na Kyung-won wrote on her Facebook on the 25th, "The news of Kim Jong-cheol's resignation is a huge shock. Following the sexual harassment by the former Seoul mayor, now the Justice Party leader?" She added, "It makes me reconsider the importance and implications of this Seoul mayoral election. We can no longer overlook the hypocrisy and true face of those who have championed human rights and progress."

However, she noted, "I think the Justice Party's attitude and response to this incident are very appropriate," and pointed out, "They showed a clearly different stance from the Democratic Party, which stigmatized the victim as a 'complainant' and committed collective secondary harm."

Previously, on July 8 last year, a former secretary of Mayor Park filed a sexual harassment complaint against him. On July 13, then Democratic Party leader Lee Hae-chan expressed sympathy to the complainant, saying, "I offer my condolences to the pain of the woman who is claiming to be a victim," and apologized for the situation.

At that time, the Democratic Party's use of the term 'complainant' to refer to the victim sparked fierce criticism. It was pointed out that the term implies the victim bears the burden of proving the harassment and denies the acknowledgment of Park's sexual misconduct.

The portrait and urn of the late Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, are heading to the hearse on the afternoon of July 13 last year at Seoul Memorial Park in Seocho-gu, Seoul, after cremation, to be transported to Mayor Park's hometown, Changnyeong, Gyeongnam. / Photo by Yonhap News

Former People Power Party lawmaker Oh Shin-hwan also wrote on Facebook, "Although the perpetrator is the party leader and the victim is a lawmaker, the confusion and aftershocks the party will face are not small, but the Justice Party chose principle," criticizing the ruling party by saying, "The Democratic Party, which hurried to conceal and downplay the issue by calling the victim a 'complainant,' informed the perpetrator of the accusation, shed crocodile tears with lies, and reversed the promise of no nomination, causing the entire party to commit secondary, tertiary, and even quaternary harm."

He added, "The Justice Party made the decision to suspend leader Kim Jong-cheol over sexual harassment allegations within the party. The Justice Party is a hundred or a thousand times healthier than the Democratic Party," and predicted, "Although it will be difficult at first, if the party follows the right path while upholding principles, the confusion will eventually be resolved and the wounds will heal."

Meanwhile, the Justice Party held an emergency press conference at the National Assembly that morning to announce Kim's sexual harassment.

Justice Party Deputy Leader and Head of the Gender and Human Rights Bureau Bae Bok-joo stated at the press conference, "The sexual harassment incident involving leader Kim occurred on January 15, and the victim is Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young."

Bae Bok-ju, Vice Representative and Head of the Gender and Human Rights Headquarters of the Justice Party, is wiping away tears on the morning of the 25th at the National Assembly Communication Office in Yeouido, Seoul, while announcing the decisions of the representative group meeting related to the sexual harassment case of Representative Jang Hye-young by Party Leader Kim Jong-chul. / Photo by Yonhap News

She continued, "Leader Kim had a meal with lawmaker Jang for a party business meeting in Yeouido, and the sexual harassment incident occurred on the way out. After much deliberation, lawmaker Jang informed me, as the head of the Gender and Human Rights Bureau, about the incident on the 18th," she explained.

Before the press conference, the Justice Party held a leadership meeting and decided to file a complaint with the Central Party Ethics Committee, the party's disciplinary body, and suspended Kim Jong-cheol according to party regulations.

In a statement released that day, Kim said, "I bow my head and apologize to the victim. I also deeply apologize to party members and the public," and expressed his intention to resign.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that the victim, Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young, is not considering criminal charges against Kim.