"Present Evidence of Sexual Harassment"... Park Won-soon Victim, Secondary Harm Spreading

Continued Secondary Harm Toward Park Won-soon Victims
Victims' Lawyers Also Slandered
"Due to Strong Black-and-White Logic in Our Society"
"Malicious Defamation of Lawyers Is Also Secondary Harm"

At a press conference on the "Power Sexual Harassment Case by the Seoul Mayor" held on the 13th at the Korea Women's Hotline in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, Kim Jae-ryeon, representative lawyer of On-Sesang Law Firm, is revealing the secret chat room invitation message sent by Mayor Park Won-soon to the complainant A. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Online secondary victimization against the secretary who accused the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexual harassment has crossed the line. Malicious slander against the victim's legal representative, lawyer Kim Jae-ryun, is also rampant.

On the 18th, a pro-government community posted an article titled "How the accuser becomes a victim" the day before. The author said, "You say you have evidence? Keep your mouth shut and show the evidence." They continued, "Don't waste time; the whole nation is watching," criticizing that the victim of former Mayor Park is only stalling without presenting evidence of sexual harassment. The implication was that if one wants to be recognized as a victim, they must present evidence of sexual harassment by former Mayor Park.

Another progressive-leaning community also posted, "The accuser should not make ordinary citizens suspicious but should clearly reveal whether there was harm so that sympathy for Mayor Park Won-soon does not arise." Some argued, "If the accuser wants to suffer more harm, they must provide evidence that Mayor Park was a bad person." Most of these posts demand the victim present evidence of sexual harassment by former Mayor Park, constituting secondary victimization. Despite strong criticism of secondary victimization and the victim filing a complaint with the police on the 13th, such behavior has not ceased.

Secondary victimization also extended to lawyer Kim and those around her. Conspiracy theories emerged, including 'doxxing' of the victim's lawyer and claims that the accusation against former Mayor Park was a 'planned' act by lawyer Kim.

One netizen claimed that lawyer Kim revealed the identity of Mr. A, which did not need to be disclosed, during a press conference held immediately after former Mayor Park's funeral on the 13th, thereby inducing secondary victimization against the victim. The netizen 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 reconciliation." This criticism was based on Kim's role as a director of the Comfort Women Reconciliation and Healing Foundation, established with 1 billion yen (approximately 11.2 billion KRW) in Japanese consolation money. Comments such as "I think Kim Jae-ryun is an operative of the 503 administration" were also posted under the article.

Kim's past activities and even her husband's background were exposed in doxxing attempts. A conspiracy theory was raised that Kim planned the accusation because her husband held a senior position at a media company during the Park Geun-hye administration. Professor Kwak Geum-ju of Seoul National University's Department of Psychology explained, "Our society has had a strong black-and-white logic since the past," adding, "These attacks are a backlash against those with opposing views." Professor Lee Soo-jung of Kyonggi University's Department of Criminal Psychology said, "Malicious slander against not only the victim but also those related to them constitutes secondary victimization," and warned, "They can be punished for defamation and other offenses."

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