[Column] Mayor Oh Se-hyun of Asan Cannot Escape Responsibility with a Resignation Letter

Asan City Hall Exterior View

Mr. A submitted his resignation.

During this time, Oh Se-hyun, the mayor of Asan, South Chungcheong Province, remained silent. His attitude suggests that all controversy has been settled with a single resignation letter. However, this issue cannot be resolved simply as a matter of an individual's position. The starting point of responsibility always lies with the appointing authority.

The core of the controversy is straightforward.

The question is how Mr. A, who committed secondary harm against the victim of the sexual assault case involving former South Chungcheong Governor Ahn Hee-jung, was appointed as a policy advisor for Asan City. There has been no explanation as to who made this decision and by what criteria. Mayor Oh continues to remain silent.

It is impossible not to ask again.

Did Mayor Oh appoint Mr. A knowing that he was a secondary perpetrator, or did he appoint him without knowing?

If he appointed him knowingly, this is a decision that directly contradicts public office ethics and social consensus. It means that those in power have undermined even the most basic principle of protecting victims of sexual violence.

If he appointed him without knowing, it reveals an inability to conduct even the most basic vetting for a key advisory position in city administration. In either case, the responsibility is significant.

The victim, Kim Ji-eun, stated, "Politics has called the victim back again." This means that the victim of a case already judged by the law has once again been drawn into the political arena. It is an accusation that a single personnel decision by those in power has once again shaken the daily life of the victim.

Women's organizations have also defined this appointment not as a simple personnel mistake, but as a case that shows just how far gender sensitivity in the public sector has deteriorated.

This is a warning that public office must be proven through action, not declarations.

The policy advisor is a key position that designs the mayor's messages and coordinates the direction of city administration. The choice of whom to place in that role directly reflects Mayor Oh's judgment and values. Nevertheless, if Mayor Oh continues to remain silent, citizens have no choice but to question the background and intent of the appointment.

Responsibility does not disappear simply because a resignation has been submitted.

Responsibility does not lie with the person who left, but with the person who appointed him. Mayor Oh's silence is perceived not as crisis management, but as an evasion of responsibility.

What citizens are demanding is not complicated.

They want a clear explanation of the facts, an unequivocal apology to the victim, and a responsible attitude regarding the personnel failure. Choosing to spend time in silence without these will only amount to another instance of secondary harm.

The silence of those in power is not neutrality.

That silence always reaches the most vulnerable first.