President Moon Jae-in remained silent over scandals involving three ruling-party politicians close to him, while the ruling party referred to the woman not as a “victim” but as a “person claiming victimization.” This article also reports that even her attorney became the target of a criminal complaint.

This article continues the preceding chapter’s examination of the cases involving Ahn Hee-jung, Oh Keo-don, and Park Won-soon, all three of whom belonged to South Korea’s ruling Democratic Party, and of the responses by President Moon Jae-in and forces surrounding his administration.
Citing contemporary reports and statements, it examines the disparity between President Moon’s declarations during the rise of the MeToo movement and his administration’s actual response when scandals involved figures close to those in power.
September 7, 2020
The following is a continuation of the preceding chapter.
We Will Make Those Who Speak Out Suffer
Ahn Hee-jung, Oh Keo-don, and Park Won-soon—all three belonged to the Democratic Party, the ruling party.
To President Moon Jae-in, they were, respectively, a junior colleague who had licked him on the cheek, a longtime “friend,” and a man who had passed the judicial examination in the same year as he had and who served as mayor of the nation’s capital.
Although each of the three had deep personal ties to him, the President has issued no official comment whatsoever concerning their cases.
Regarding the most recent case, the “Park Won-soon power-based sexual harassment and suicide case,” a presidential spokesperson said, “I would like to offer words of comfort to the victim,” and, concerning an official comment from the President, raised expectations by saying, “Once the truth has been clarified.…” However, because the accused died, the police investigation was terminated.
Since the truth will not be clarified, there will therefore be no comment from the President.
Furthermore, according to the Chosun Ilbo of July 25, 2020, “another official” from the presidential office went out of his way to deny the spokesperson’s statement that he wished to “offer words of comfort,” saying, “That was the spokesperson’s personal view. It does not represent the Blue House—the presidential office.”
When the MeToo movement was gaining momentum, President Moon said the following:
“When a victim makes a disclosure…even if the victim has not filed a complaint, I want the authorities to investigate actively.”
“Any act in which a powerful man uses his power or position to trample upon a vulnerable woman must be severely punished, regardless of the form of violence, the nature of the relationship, or the identity or status of the perpetrator.”
“With the determination to fundamentally eradicate sexual violence, which has taken root throughout society, I want the entire government to mobilize every available means.”
“In particular, I want meticulous measures to be taken to ensure that victims who courageously reveal the harm they have suffered are not subjected to secondary victimization or disadvantage.” (All of the above statements were reported by Yonhap News on February 26, 2018.)
The President, who went this far in his statements, has remained silent about the scandals involving these three men.
Moreover, the ruling party coined the new term “person appealing that she was harmed” to describe the female secretary who filed the complaint against the mayor of Seoul.
It carries a nuance resembling “a woman who is making a fuss and shouting that she was victimized.”
It presumably means that they do not recognize her as a “victim.”
Furthermore, forces surrounding the left-wing administration filed a criminal complaint against the victim’s representative—her attorney—for allegedly inducing a false accusation.
In other words, if you belong to the “new ruling class,” not only is something like power-based sexual harassment permissible, but anyone who exposes it will be made to suffer.
To be continued.