Late Choi Jin-sil Helped Victims of 'Miryang Group Sexual Assault'... Past Story Revisited

Attorney Kang Ji-won Takes on Milyang Case and Lawsuit Against Mr. Choi
Delivers Fees Received from Mr. Choi to Milyang Victims

Recently, the identities and current statuses of the perpetrators who committed a year-long group sexual assault on a middle school girl in Miryang 20 years ago have been sequentially revealed online, sparking public outrage. Amid this, the late actress Choi Jin-sil's financial support to the victim at the time is being reexamined.

On the 6th, a post titled "Choi Jin-sil who helped the 2004 Miryang sexual assault victim" was uploaded on an online community. The post included an interview from June 2016 with lawyer Kang Ji-won, who provided free legal representation to the Miryang sexual assault victim, Ms. A. At that time, Choi Jin-sil was sued for 3 billion won in damages by a construction company she had modeled for, citing breach of dignity obligations due to the public disclosure of her husband's assault case and her failure to manage her private life properly.

The late Choi Jin-sil

Lawyer Kang also took on Choi Jin-sil's defense pro bono. He viewed Choi Jin-sil's case not merely as a personal lawsuit but as helping a vulnerable person facing an anti-women crisis. However, the "Anti Choi Jin-sil Cafe" criticized this, saying, "Why provide free legal defense to a wealthy person?" and "Isn't this preferential treatment for a famous celebrity?" As criticism grew, Kang decided to charge Choi Jin-sil a legal fee but came up with a plan: to use the fee received from Choi Jin-sil to help Ms. A.

Lawyer Kang Ji-won

Regarding the situation at the time, Kang said, "After the Miryang case was reported in the media, there was an uproar. I thought we needed to get (Ms. A) to safety, so I suggested an escape. I relocated the mother and her two daughters to Seoul," adding, "At first, no school accepted the victim, so after protesting to the education office about 'this is the kind of student a school should accept,' she was transferred to a high school." He continued, "(Ms. A's family) were in a runaway situation and couldn't make a living," saying, "I told Choi Jin-sil to prepare 10 million won. 5 million won was sent to a sexual violence counseling center as support funds, and the rest was sent to Ms. A's mother." He also added, "Choi Jin-sil thought it was a meaningful cause and agreed willingly."

The "Miryang middle school girl group sexual assault case" refers to an incident in 2004 in Miryang, Gyeongnam, where 44 male students born between 1986 and 1988, who were high school students at the time, sexually assaulted one middle school girl for a year. The perpetrators even filmed the assaults on their cell phones and threatened the victim by saying they would distribute the footage if she reported them. The prosecution indicted only 10 who directly participated in the assaults, while the rest were sent to juvenile court or released. However, even those indicted were eventually sent to juvenile court and received probation or similar measures, resulting in none of the 44 being criminally punished, and the case was closed.

This case began to be reexamined recently after a YouTuber exposed that the ringleader of the "Miryang middle school girl group sexual assault" case is currently running a restaurant with relatives in Cheongdo-gun. Since the 2nd, this YouTuber has been revealing the identities of the perpetrators one by one and has announced plans to disclose the identities of all 44 individuals involved in the case.