Seoul City Launches Investigation Team Amid Challenges to Uncover Truth Behind Late Mayor Park's Sexual Harassment Case

Participation of External Human Rights and Legal Experts, City Decides... Controversy Over Appropriateness
Concerns Over Expansion from Sexual Misconduct to Political Issues

Hwang In-sik, spokesperson for the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is reading the Seoul city government's official statement on the investigation into employee human rights violations at the city hall press room on the 15th. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City has decided to launch a public-private joint investigation team to uncover the truth behind the sexual harassment allegations related to the late Mayor Park Won-soon, but it seems that forming the investigation team itself will not be easy. There are also criticisms that the fact that Seoul City, the subject of the investigation, is deciding the participants of the investigation team reveals the limitations of the investigation.

On the 16th, Seoul City announced that it has begun reviewing the formation of a "Public-Private Joint Investigation Team for the Truth Verification of Employee Human Rights Violations," centered on the Women and Family Policy Office, as well as the investigation methods and subjects.

Typically, when a sexual misconduct incident occurs within the city, if a victim's report is received, the relevant department or human rights office conducts an investigation based on the content. However, in the case of the late Mayor Park's sexual harassment allegations, the victim did not file an official report internally but informed the Korean Sexual Violence Counseling Center and Korea Women's Hotline of the incident. Accordingly, it appears that the investigation team will receive the victim's statements and complaint details from these women's organizations in the future.

A Seoul City official said, "Since the situation is unusual, we are consulting various experts on how many and which people to include in the investigation team and what procedures are needed from the formation stage." He added, "As announced yesterday, we will form the investigation team as soon as possible and make an official announcement." The official also noted, "However, to ensure objectivity and fairness in the investigation team, we need to broadly invite external figures such as women's groups and experts in human rights and law, so it will inevitably take a few days."

However, there are criticisms that it is inappropriate for Seoul City, the party under investigation, to select who will participate in the investigation itself.

Another Seoul City official said, "Since this issue goes beyond an individual's sexual misconduct and inevitably involves the responsibility of the mayor and senior city officials, the neutrality of each member of the investigation team must be scrutinized, making the appointment itself difficult." He questioned, "Since this could escalate into a political issue, wouldn't those participating in the investigation team also feel burdened?"

Not only the sexual harassment allegations against Mayor Park but also suspicions that the city concealed the victim's complaints internally have been raised, so the scope of investigation may expand to include employees who worked in the mayor's secretariat and political affairs line over the past four years. In this case, it will inevitably take considerable time to investigate all subjects.

The operation method and schedule of the investigation team also need to be determined. The city plans to coordinate detailed schedules with the Korean Sexual Violence Counseling Center and Korea Women's Hotline, which reported the victim's case, once the investigation team is formed, and proceed with identifying specific facts, circumstances, and punishing those responsible. However, it has been confirmed that no official cooperation requests have yet been made to any specific women's organizations.

Meanwhile, Im Soon-young, the gender special advisor who is known to have first recognized the complaint just before the late former Mayor Park's death, did not come to work on this day as she was on leave. Koh Han-seok, the head of the Seoul City Secretariat, who was questioned by the police the previous day, has also not responded to the press.

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