Chairman Cho: "Principles of Communication, Healing, and Integration"
Cho Kuk, Chairman of the Emergency Response Committee of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, stated on the 15th, "We will take responsibility for healing the wounds of the victims, providing full compensation, preventing recurrence, and improving the system."
Cho Kuk, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, is speaking at the Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly on the 15th. Photo by Kim Hyunmin
At the first Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly that day, Chairman Cho expressed his apologies to the victims of the sexual misconduct case and said, "We humbly accept the criticism that the party focused too much on legal procedures and judgments and failed to understand the victims' feelings. I will be the first to engage in deep self-reflection," he added.
He announced measures to address the sexual misconduct case, stating, "Based on the three principles of communication, healing, and integration, we will implement various actions for a communal resolution."
The measures include: ▲ Prohibiting the mention of victims' real names ▲ Establishing a permanent body to respond to malicious reporting about victims ▲ Setting up a permanent body to protect human rights.
Chairman Cho said, "(Prohibiting the mention of victims' real names) is what the victims want," adding, "We must respect this, and we will not tolerate malicious reporting by certain media outlets or on YouTube."
The Cho Kuk Innovation Party recently shifted to an emergency response committee system after Kang Mijeong, former spokesperson, announced her departure from the party, criticizing the leadership's lukewarm attitude and secondary victimization during the resolution process of the sexual misconduct case.
Regarding the claim by Kim Bohyup, former chief spokesperson who was expelled after being identified as the perpetrator in the sexual misconduct case, that there was no sexual harassment or misconduct, Chairman Cho said, "The party's decision to expel him remains unchanged. We will focus our efforts on the recovery and healing of the victims."
In the subsequent closed-door meeting, the party decided to re-examine support measures for victims such as psychological counseling, establish party rules for 'community recovery,' and launch a 'fake news response team' to prevent secondary victimization. The response team will be led by Seo Sangbeom, chairman of the party's legal committee.
Spokesperson Park Byeongeon met with reporters immediately after the closed-door meeting and explained, "Putting policy issues aside, we are holding various discussions under the principle of 'gaining sincerity with sincerity.' We aim to move toward a communal resolution."
Spokesperson Park also conveyed, "Chairman Cho instructed that, if a victim who left the party wishes to return, the existing party rule that prohibits reinstatement within one year will be exceptionally waived, allowing for immediate restoration of party membership and assignment to any desired party position or work." Regarding the possibility of changes to the party convention scheduled for November due to the launch of the emergency committee, he said, "There has been no discussion so far," and added, "Unless otherwise stated, it will proceed as planned on November 23."
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