Democratic Party: "Strict Action with Zero Tolerance on Sexual Crime Allegations Against Yang Hyang-ja's Office Staff"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Cheol-eung] The Democratic Party of Korea stated that it will "thoroughly investigate with a zero-tolerance policy and take the strictest and swiftest measures possible" regarding the sexual crime allegations at the regional office of Democratic Party lawmaker Yang Hyang-ja.

Democratic Party spokesperson Lee So-young said in a written briefing on the 23rd, "On the 22nd, the media reported allegations that the accounting manager of Yang Hyang-ja's regional office repeatedly committed sexual crimes against a coworker," adding, "The party is conducting verification and investigation procedures regarding the reported allegations, but above all, we deeply apologize to the victim who suffered great pain and to the public."

On the 14th, Floor Leader Yoon Ho-jung first received a report on the matter from Representative Yang, and on the 16th, he instructed Song Gap-seok, Chairman of the Gwangju Metropolitan City Party Committee, to conduct a fact-finding investigation at the city party level.

The spokesperson said, "The Gwangju Metropolitan City Party immediately began a fact-finding investigation into the incident, but due to the nature of sexual crimes and to prevent secondary harm, they refrained from excessive exposure of the investigation details and conducted the investigation internally," adding, "During this process, we confirmed that follow-up measures such as isolating the victim, suspending the duties of related personnel, closing the regional office, and victim counseling by the central party’s Gender Violence Reporting and Counseling Center were carried out."

She continued, "The Democratic Party of Korea has declared a zero-tolerance policy regarding involvement in admission and employment corruption, real estate speculation, and sexual harassment by members and their immediate families," emphasizing, "Alongside judicial procedures, we will promptly conduct the ongoing party-level investigation of the perpetrator and take strict and thorough measures at the party level based on the investigation results."