"Strict Investigation Needed for Oh Keo-don Incident"... United and Korean Parties Launch Ruling Party Offensive for 'Truth Clarification' (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy reporters Lee Ji-eun and Kim Hye-min] The United Future Party and the Future Korea Party announced that they will form investigative committees to strictly investigate the case of former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, who admitted to sexual harassment and resigned, in order to uncover the truth. Female lawmakers also pointed out that the opposition party needs self-reflection, saying, "We need to look back on how we have been until now."

Shim Jae-cheol, acting leader of the United Future Party, stated at the Supreme Council meeting held at the National Assembly on the morning of the 28th, "The case of former Mayor Oh is a serious crime that was concealed and only reluctantly revealed after the general election, leading to his resignation." He emphasized, "It should not end with his resignation from the mayoral office; he must receive appropriate legal punishment," and added, "He should be urgently arrested as a suspect caught in the act."

He continued his offensive, saying, "The Sexual Violence Counseling Center remained silent for more than two weeks regarding former Mayor Oh's case, and the head of this center has publicly expressed support for President Moon Jae-in. The notarizing institution is also the Busan law firm established by President Moon, and its representative lawyer, Jung Jae-seung, served as the head of the talent committee for Oh Keo-don's campaign. Despite this, the Blue House and the Democratic Party are pretending not to know."

Won Yoo-chul, leader of the Future Korea Party, also said at the National Assembly Supreme Council meeting that day, "The Democratic Party of Korea is consistently feigning ignorance and cutting off the tail, but the entire process of the case must be clearly revealed," adding, "It was only four days after former Mayor Oh's resignation that the police began a full-scale investigation. Since this was concealed with the general election in mind, public suspicion is snowballing."

Earlier, the United Future Party and the Future Korea Party announced that they would form special investigation committees on sexual scandals to uncover the truth not only about former Mayor Oh's case but also about Democratic Party elected lawmaker Kim Nam-guk's podcast-related female criticism and the sexual assault case involving an employee of Mayor Park Won-soon's secretariat. The United Future Party's investigation committee is led by lawmaker Kwak Sang-do as the head of the fact-finding team, with about ten members including lawmakers Kim Do-eup, Yoo Sang-beom, Kim Woong, and Kim Mi-ae. The Future Korea Party's investigation committee is chaired by lawmaker Song Hee-kyung, with elected lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye serving as secretary, and members including elected lawmaker Heo Eun-ah, recruited talent Kim Eun-hee, former advisory member of the National Human Rights Commission's Sports Special Investigation Team, and Shin Min-a, CEO of Veritaum.

The opposition party appears to be launching a full-scale offensive against the ruling party's sexual scandal cases that occurred just before the general election, including former Mayor Oh's sexual harassment and the sexual assault of an employee in Mayor Park's secretariat. At the same time, they seem cautious about "secondary damage." Lawmaker Kwak said, "There are various suspicions that power was involved in the resignation process," adding, "It is strange that everyone, including civilians, remains silent. We will be careful to ensure that there are no problems in protecting the victims during this process."

However, among the female members of the investigation committees, voices calling for self-reflection from the opposition party also emerged. Kim Eun-hee, a member of the Future Korea Party, said, "There are criticisms that this incident is selective anger from women's and human rights organizations, but we need to look back on how we have been until now," adding, "We need to review how proactive and preemptive the party has been regarding sexual crimes, violence against women, child abuse cases, and incidents in human rights blind spots, and fundamentally what has been done."

Heo Eun-ah, a member of the Future Korea Party, also said, "In the future, the Future Korea Party should show a more realistic and practical political approach. The former Mayor Oh case is no exception," adding, "If we decided to approach this from the victim's perspective, it would be good to issue a statement from the victim or actively participate to better understand the victim's position."

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