Female lawmakers apologize for 'Park Won-soon allegations'... Urge thorough investigation and party sexual misconduct review

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jin-young] Female lawmakers of the Democratic Party of Korea apologized for the sexual violence allegations against the late Mayor Park Won-soon and urged a fact-finding investigation at the Seoul city level as well as an urgent inspection of sexual misconduct within the party.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

On the afternoon of the 14th, the lawmakers stated in a press release, “We deeply apologize for the disruption to city administration and the great disappointment caused to the public due to the unfortunate incidents involving Democratic Party-affiliated metropolitan government heads.”

They added, “We will do our best to reflect on these issues at the party level and prepare special measures to prevent such incidents from happening again,” promising to establish effective measures.

The lawmakers urged the party to conduct an urgent and comprehensive inspection of all sexual misconduct cases within the party, including those involving Democratic Party-affiliated local government heads. They emphasized, “We will establish a system so that victims can safely receive counseling and support, and promote legislation to institutionalize prevention, investigation, relief, and prohibition of disadvantages for victims related to sexual harassment and assault in public institutions. We will also strengthen gender education for high-ranking public officials.”

They also demanded a fact-finding investigation at the Seoul city level. The lawmakers said, “Since the victim claimed that she 'requested help from Seoul city but was ignored,' this is a necessary measure,” and urged, “Seoul city must form a ‘Fact-Finding and Recurrence Prevention Committee’ including external members. Active protective measures for the victim must also be implemented simultaneously.”

Regarding the victim who accused Mayor Park of sexual assault, they stated, “First, we express our deep sympathy for the pain the victim must have felt,” and added, “We strongly regret the doxxing, slander, insults, and threats that occurred. Such incidents must not be repeated.”

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