'Personnel Retaliation' Against Employee Who Reported Sexual Harassment... Former Buddhist Order Leader Fined Again on Appeal

The former head of the administrative office of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, who gave personnel disadvantages to an employee of the order after the employee reported sexual harassment by an insider, was sentenced to a fine again in the appeals trial.

On August 19, the Criminal Appeals Division 1-1 of the Seoul Northern District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Taekyun, Yoon Woongki, and Won Jungsook) dismissed the appeal of Jung (59), who was tried on charges including violation of the Act on the Prevention of Sexual Violence and the Act on the Protection of Public Interest Whistleblowers, and upheld the original verdict. Jung had previously been sentenced to a fine of 10 million won last year.

The court also upheld the original ruling for the Jogye Order Foundation, which had been fined 5 million won in the first trial.

Previously, during the sentencing hearing of the appeals trial, the prosecution requested a one-year prison sentence for Jung and a 10 million won fine for the Jogye Order Foundation, but both requests were denied. The court explained, "After considering various sentencing materials, the sentence handed down in the first trial does not appear to be unjust," adding, "The circumstances additionally argued by the prosecutor have already been sufficiently considered."

Jung was accused of giving personnel disadvantages, such as transferring victim A to a provincial post, after A reported being sexually harassed by the son of the Supreme Leader of the Jogye Order.

After A applied to the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission for protection as a public interest whistleblower following the provincial transfer, Jung reportedly placed A on standby as an additional personnel measure.

In his final statement during the appeals trial, Jung said, "The reason for transferring the victim to a provincial district was that, given the difficult circumstances, I heard the victim was emotionally struggling, so I thought working in the area where their family home is located might provide emotional stability," and added, "No matter how materialistic the times may be, it is lamentable to see a society where kindness is repaid with hostility."