Ha Tae-kyung: "Seoul City, a Den of Sexual Crimes... No Follow-up Action on 'April Sexual Assault'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] Amid Seoul City's internal investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against the late Mayor Park Won-soon, Ha Tae-kyung, a member of the Future United Party, criticized Seoul City as a "den of sexual crimes," pointing out that there was no follow-up action regarding a sexual assault case in April.

On the 18th, Ha stated on Facebook, "The sexual assault case in April was also attempted to be covered up without any follow-up action, and there are suspicions that it was concealed to avoid backlash affecting Mayor Park. The prosecution should investigate this," he said.

On April 14, a male employee A from the Seoul Mayor's Secretariat was booked by the prosecution on charges of sexually assaulting a female colleague who was intoxicated after a company dinner and taking her to a motel. Ten days later, A was suspended from his position.

Regarding this, Ha said, "When the police investigation began immediately after the April incident, Kim Tae-gyun, Director of Seoul City's Administrative Bureau, announced the suspension of the accused and stated that a strict investigation by the city would apply a zero-tolerance, one-strike-out policy," adding, "According to confirmation from my office to Seoul City, no follow-up actions were taken regarding the April sexual assault case."

He added, "'Zero tolerance, one-strike-out' was just empty words," and "Since then, Seoul City has taken no additional measures. No internal investigation was conducted, nor was any disciplinary committee convened."

Ha also pointed out, "According to another report, the political line tried to cover up the April sexual assault case," and "After April, the sexual harassment case involving Mayor Park was already fairly well known internally. Therefore, there is a high possibility that the April sexual assault case was also buried without investigation or discipline due to concerns that it might implicate Mayor Park."

He emphasized, "While the prosecution investigates the organized cover-up of Mayor Park's sexual harassment, it should also investigate the suspicion that Seoul City attempted to cover up the internal sexual assault case in April, that is, the concealment attempt."

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