'Unfilial Lawyer'... Progressive Community's Excessive 'Attack' on Park Won-soon Victim's Attorney

Attorney Kim Jae-ryeon, representing the victim A who accused Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexual harassment and other charges, is deep in thought at the "Press Conference on the Sexual Harassment Case by the Seoul Mayor" held on the 13th at Korea Women's Hotline in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Amid the occurrence of secondary online harassment against A, the former secretary of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, malicious defamation against attorney Kim Jae-ryeon, who is representing the victim, is also surging. There have been not only 'doxxing' of Kim and those around her but also conspiracy theories claiming that A's lawsuit against the late Mayor Park was orchestrated by attorney Kim.

On the 15th, a post titled "Why did Kim Jae-ryeon postpone it to next week?" was uploaded on a pro-government community free board. The author claimed that attorney Kim revealed personal information about A, which did not need to be disclosed, during a press conference held immediately after the late Mayor Park's funeral on the 13th, thereby inducing secondary harm to the victim. The post also referred to Kim as a "disgraceful lawyer who held a press conference on the deceased's funeral day" and "a woman who took money from comfort women grandmothers and tried to negotiate a settlement." This criticism targeted Kim's role as a director of the Comfort Women Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, which was established with 1 billion yen (approximately 11.2 billion KRW) in consolation money from Japan. The post received comments such as "I think Kim Jae-ryeon is an operative of the 503 administration."

In apparent awareness of criticism regarding secondary harassment against A, another post argued that it is better to expose and attack attorney Kim's identity rather than the victim. The netizen wrote, "There seems to be little to gain by targeting the plaintiff," adding, "It only gives a pretext for counterattacks." The post further suggested that the lawsuit against the late Mayor Park was orchestrated by attorney Kim and implied there might be other motives.

On another progressive-leaning community, netizens engaged in doxxing by revealing not only attorney Kim's past activities but also her husband's background. Some claimed that Kim's husband held a senior position at a media company during the Park Geun-hye administration and expressed suspicion that "this situation might have been deliberately planned."

Experts emphasize that attacks on legal representatives also constitute secondary harassment. Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University stated, "Malicious defamation against not only the victim but also related parties constitutes secondary harm," adding, "They can be subject to punishment for defamation and other offenses." Professor Kwak Geum-joo of Seoul National University's Department of Psychology explained, "Our society has long been polarized," and "These attacks on attorneys reflect backlash against opposing views and also aim to intimidate the legal representatives."

Meanwhile, attorney Kim is known for her work in protecting women's rights and supporting child sexual abuse victims. She passed the bar exam in 2000 and worked as a counselor attorney at the Women's Legal Counseling Center and the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center. From 2013 to 2015, she served as the Director of the Rights Promotion Bureau at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family. She also played a leading role as the representative of Prosecutor Seo Ji-hyun, who exposed sexual harassment within the prosecution in 2018, sparking the MeToo movement. However, she resigned from the legal team amid controversy over her past role as a director of the Comfort Women Reconciliation and Healing Foundation.

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