Yale Psychiatry Professor Reshares 5-Year-Old Post on 'Park Won-soon Incident' Following Jang Je-won's Death

"We Must Also Consider the Feelings of the Victim"

Former People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won, who was under police investigation for sexual assault allegations, was found dead, while Assistant Professor Na Jong-ho of the Department of Psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine in the United States reshared a post he wrote five years ago at the time of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's death.

Former People Power Party lawmaker Jang Je-won. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

On the 1st, Professor Na wrote on Facebook, "People who are thinking about suicide often see it as the only way out," adding, "However, I strongly oppose the glorification of suicide." He continued, "In fact, a social atmosphere that regards suicide as honorable is one of the biggest factors increasing suicide rates," emphasizing, "The atmosphere that packages suicide as an honorable death and treats it as a pardon for everything must be avoided."

This is part of a post Professor Na wrote five years ago titled 'Please empathize with them too, in front of the death of the late Mayor Park Won-soon.' At that time, through this post, Professor Na emphasized, "With empathy for the human agony and pain that Mayor Park Won-soon must have felt, I ask you to also consider the feelings of the victimized women."

He also wrote, "How much courage it must have taken for an ordinary citizen to accuse the enormous power of the Seoul mayor, how many sleepless nights she must have endured, and how great the shock she felt when the defendant ended his life by suicide immediately after the complaint was filed."

Jang Je-won, a former three-term lawmaker from Sasang District, Busan, was found dead around 11:45 p.m. on the 31st of last month in an officetel in Gangdong District, Seoul. The police stated there were no signs of homicide or other criminal suspicions. Former lawmaker Jang was accused of sexual violence (quasi-rape resulting in death) against his secretary A in November 2015 while serving as vice president of a university in Busan.

Meanwhile, former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was found dead near Sukjeongmun Gate on Bukaksan Mountain in Seoul in July 2020. It was later revealed that he had been accused of sexual harassment by a subordinate Seoul city official. The police conducted an investigation for about five months but closed the case without resolving the sexual harassment allegations.

※ If you have difficult concerns such as depression or if your family or acquaintances are experiencing such difficulties, you can receive 24-hour professional counseling through the Suicide Prevention Hotline ☎109 or the Suicide Prevention SNS counseling service 'Madeullan.'