Police Launch Full-Scale Investigation... Will the 'Park Won-soon Allegations' Be Resolved?

The 6th floor of Seoul City Hall, where the mayor's office, secretariat, and political appointee offices are located, is quiet on the 17th. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The police have launched a full-scale investigation to clarify various allegations surrounding the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency has decided to operate a dedicated task force (TF) for the investigation of the late Mayor Park, appointing the Deputy Commissioner as the team leader, and the heads of the Community Safety Division and the Investigation Division as deputy team leaders, deploying a large number of personnel. This measure aims to respond more actively to the various allegations surrounding the late Mayor Park. Initially, the head of the Community Safety Division was responsible for protecting the accuser against Mayor Park, while the head of the Investigation Division led the investigation into the circumstances of Mayor Park’s death.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency explained, "This is to deploy a large-scale investigation force and conduct a swift investigation to address the neglect and tacit approval by Seoul city officials and to prevent secondary harm."

The police are conducting digital forensic work on the mobile phone found at the scene of the late Mayor Park’s death to verify the circumstances of his death. The Seongbuk Police Station sent one of the late Mayor Park’s mobile phones, which had been kept as evidence, to the digital forensic department of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for analysis the day before. It is reported that the bereaved family has also expressed their intention to observe the forensic process. Although the consent of the bereaved family is not mandatory in the investigation procedure, given the gravity of the case, the police plan to guarantee the family’s right to participate as much as possible. However, the communication warrants applied for by the police for three mobile phones, including this phone and two others registered under the late Mayor Park’s name, have been rejected by the court.

Regarding the investigation into the circumstances of the death, the police are also continuously questioning Seoul city officials. On the 15th, the Seongbuk Police Station summoned Ko Han-seok, former Secretary to the Mayor of Seoul, as a witness, and on the 16th, they questioned one Seoul city official each in the morning and afternoon. Im Soon-young, Seoul city’s gender advisor, who is reported to have been the first to inform the late Mayor Park of the accusation, has not yet been summoned. The police are expected to summon officials connected to the late Mayor Park’s death, including him, within the next week.

On the 17th, when the police began investigating the case in which the YouTube channel Garosero Research Institute accused Seoul city officials of neglecting and condoning the sexual violence of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, the accuser, lawyer Kang Yong-seok, was answering reporters' questions as he entered the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency for questioning. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

The police also plan to investigate all possibilities regarding the case in which the YouTube channel Garoseuro Yeonguso (Gaseyeon) filed a complaint against Seoul city officials for allegedly aiding and abetting Park Won-soon’s sexual harassment. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency summoned Gaseyeon personnel the day before for complainant questioning. Earlier, on the 10th, Gaseyeon had filed a complaint accusing former and current deputy mayors of Seoul, including Seo Jeong-hyeop, Administrative Deputy Mayor, and secretariat officials, of aiding and abetting sexual assault by abuse of authority.

Meanwhile, the sexual harassment complaint filed with the police before the late Mayor Park’s death is expected to be closed as "no prosecution" due to his death. The police are effectively concluding the case and coordinating the timing of the transfer. Investigation agencies such as the police and prosecution issue a non-prosecution decision when the suspect dies. The police’s policy is to transfer this case to the prosecution with a "no prosecution" decision in the same context.

However, an investigation at the Seoul city level to clarify the facts will proceed. Seoul city announced the day before that it would form a joint investigation team composed entirely of external experts to investigate sexual harassment and misconduct by the late Mayor Park’s staff. Additionally, they plan to prepare structural improvement measures to prevent recurrence of similar cases. This excludes participation by Seoul city officials, who would have represented the "government" side, from the "public-private joint investigation team" policy announced by Seoul city on the 15th.

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