[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] The campaign of opposition presidential candidate Yoon Seok-yeol, former Prosecutor General, has taken a tough stance by filing criminal charges for defamation and other offenses against 10 media personnel who reported on allegations of cohabitation involving Yoon’s wife, Kim Geon-hee. They also announced that they will consider additional legal measures after a period of monitoring.
On the afternoon of the 29th, the People’s Campaign released a statement on Facebook saying, "We have collectively filed charges against 10 individuals who repeatedly engaged in 'unbearable sexually harassing slander' against the spouse of former Prosecutor General Yoon, spreading baseless rumors of her being an entertainment hostess and having an extramarital affair." These individuals had raised suspicions that Kim and former prosecutor Yang Mo were living together inappropriately.
The charges applied to them include violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (obscenity using communication media) and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (defamation).
They rebutted, stating, "The rumors about being an entertainment hostess and having an extramarital affair are absolutely untrue," adding, "It is merely the intentional spread of false reports by opportunistic litigants seeking money."
Regarding their reports, they pointed out, "They claim journalistic ethics and verification, but this cannot be considered normal journalistic activity or verification," and criticized, "Statements mentioning prostitution and sexual bribery presuppose a violent and misogynistic perception that commodifies women’s sexuality."
They also criticized ruling party politicians who mentioned Kim repeatedly. The People’s Campaign said, "Democratic Party politicians also made mocking remarks such as 'How can someone called Julie be welcomed as First Lady?' and 'Julie must be happy to have a strong bodyguard,'" targeting related comments by Representative Song Young-gil, Assemblyman Jeong Cheong-rae, former Minister of Justice Chu Mi-ae, and Jeong Un-hyeon, public relations director of the Lee Nak-yeon campaign.
Finally, the People’s Campaign stated, "While expecting candidate verification based on facts and raising and clarifying suspicions with respect for human dignity and personality, we will complete evidence collection through monitoring of sexual violence and sexual harassment violations over a certain period and then consider additional legal measures."
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