United Future Party's Controversy Over Referring to 'Park Won-soon Sex Scandal'... Democratic Party Demands "Resignation" (Comprehensive Report 2)

Jeong Won-seok, Acting Committee Chair, Apologizes... "Acknowledges Lack of Consideration for Victims"
Democratic Party: "Reveals United Party's True Intentions Clearly"
Justice Party: "So Bad They Call It Seongnuri Party"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Jeong Won-seok, Emergency Response Committee member of the United Future Party, referred to the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul, sexual harassment allegations as a "sex scandal," which sparked controversy and eventually led to his apology. The remark was heavily criticized as inappropriate in a case where there are clear perpetrators and victims. The Democratic Party of Korea has called for Jeong's resignation.

On the morning of the 16th, during an Emergency Response Committee meeting held at the National Assembly, Jeong stated, "The time for condolence has passed, and now the time for judgment has come. It is time for us to reveal the truth," adding, "Park Won-soon's sexual harassment, Seoul city sex scandal concealment allegations." He further said, "Regarding the sex scandal, I want to define it as a sexual crime," and "Although there is no testimony that the female victim had a relationship, various sexual scandals are still occurring within the Seoul city government."

Later that afternoon, Jeong posted on Facebook, "I acknowledge that referring to it as a sex scandal in a dictionary sense lacked consideration for the female victim's perspective, which could be perceived as harm," and added, "From now on, I will correct it to 'power-based sexual crime' and strive to better reflect the victim's standpoint in the choice of terminology. I will think more from the perspective of female victims."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Democratic Party and the Justice Party immediately criticized the remarks. Jang Jong-hwa, Youth Spokesperson for the Democratic Party, said in a statement that day, "Jeong, who reduced the victim's plea for help to a political dispute using the lowest form of language, should immediately apologize to the public and resign from his Emergency Response Committee position," and "We demand prompt action from the United Future Party."

Jang further criticized, "It has been blatantly revealed that the United Future Party's true intention is to exploit the victim's pain and the seriousness of the issue solely for political conflict," and asked, "Is this truly the level of gender sensitivity possessed by the youth representative of the United Future Party?"

Kim Jong-cheol, Senior Spokesperson for the Justice Party, said, "There is no such phrase anywhere in the victim's complaint, and the victim's main point is that she has suffered sexual harassment and sexual assault for years, so suddenly calling it a sex scandal is what kind of low-level remark is this?" He criticized, "It is nothing but an attempt to escalate this issue into a political dispute without any concern for the victim's anxiety and other feelings. It is pathetic."

Kim added, "Although they speak as if they are blaming Mayor Park and condemning the widespread sexual crimes in our society, the United Future Party has been a party completely distant from that," and said, "No wonder they have been mocked as the 'Sex Nuri Party.' The United Future Party, pretending to care for victims but actually exploiting them to escalate political disputes, should reflect on their own baseness."

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