"I Never Suggested a Timing for Oh Keo-don's Resignation... Surprised It Happened So Soon"

On the morning of the 23rd, at Busan City Hall, Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don showed tears during a resignation press conference where he admitted to sexual harassment of a woman.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Shinwon Yoon] Amid controversy over the timing of former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don's resignation, the Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center, which is protecting the victim, firmly denied the claim, stating, "We have never proposed that the resignation timing be after the general election."

On the 24th, the counseling center expressed regret over suspicions that "Busan City proposed to the victim's side that the resignation would be after the general election," and stated, "We are bewildered as the resignation timing came earlier than expected."

According to the counseling center, the victim, Ms. A, was sexually harassed in early April. At that time, Ms. A informed a high-ranking Busan City official of the incident and immediately visited the Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center the day after the incident occurred. The city official is known to be a political affairs personnel under former Mayor Oh.

The counseling center conveyed that "the city official told Ms. A that 'an unacceptable incident has occurred, and we will accept all that the victim wants to restore the damage.'"

Ms. A demanded publicly that former Mayor Oh acknowledge his wrongdoing and resign, and the city official, after discussions with former Mayor Oh, conveyed the intention to accept this and resign by the end of this month, the counseling center explained.

Subsequently, Ms. A obtained notarization through a certain law firm by the end of April to confirm former Mayor Oh's resignation.

Regarding allegations raised by political circles and some media that Busan City proposed resignation after the general election, the counseling center stated this is not true. The resignation timing specified in the notarization was merely part of the process to secure a promise and did not carry any particular meaning.

A counseling center official said, "The city official had said they would accept any conditions the victim wanted," adding, "The victim did not request the resignation to be announced before the general election, nor did Busan City ask for it to be after the general election."

They continued, "Notarization is generally one of the manuals used by sexual violence counseling centers to handle cases for the victim," and "Some interpret the notarization as a kind of deal meaning 'resignation after the general election,' but this is completely untrue, and we have requested corrections from some media outlets."

Lee Jae-hee, director of the Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center, said, "We have received many calls from citizens viewing the situation as if the counseling center planned for former Mayor Oh to resign after the general election, causing serious secondary damage and interfering with our work," adding, "We must focus on the forced sexual harassment case of the Busan mayor and protect the victim; the essence of the case should not be diverted."

Regarding suspicions that the Busan City political affairs team attempted to reach an agreement with the victim on the day of former Mayor Oh's resignation, the center denied, saying, "There were no calls to either the victim or the counseling center, and the city official consistently intended to meet the victim's demands," and "The resignation came just two weeks after the incident, and the earlier-than-expected timing left the counseling center so bewildered that our response was insufficient."

Ms. A also stated in a position released the day before, "I demanded former Mayor Oh's resignation for the very obvious reason that those who commit wrongdoing should be punished and victims protected," and "There have been movements to politically interpret this incident in connection with the general election period, but there was no external pressure or inducement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.