Ministry of Gender Equality and Family "Taking Measures to Address Sexual Crimes by Elected Officials"

There is a Sexual Harassment Manual for Public Institution Heads
But Limitations Exist in Applying It to Elected Officials

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Seoul City Are Checking Implementation of Sexual Violence Prevention Education
"No Request Yet for Seoul City Investigation Team Participation"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family announced that it will develop feasible response measures in cases where elected public officials commit sexual crimes, following the death of the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul.

Hwang Yoon-jung, Director of the Rights Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, stated at a regular briefing on the 16th, "Basically, we have created and distributed manuals on sexual harassment and sexual violence in the workplace, including public institutions," adding, "However, when the victim is a local government head, especially an elected official, there are limitations in responding to such issues, so we will supplement necessary countermeasures."

A manual for handling cases involving sexual harassment and sexual violence by heads of public institutions was established in 2018. The public institutions referred to here include central government-affiliated public institutions and public enterprises, but it has been difficult to apply the same standards when the head is elected through voting.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family is currently conducting a written inspection on whether Seoul City is implementing sexual harassment and sexual violence prevention education, and plans to conduct on-site investigations if necessary. An official explained, "We will form a team to go out together with experts."

Seoul City had previously announced plans to form its own investigation team but reportedly did not make any special requests to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

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