Son Hyewon, Responding to Secondary Harm Controversy: "Isn't the Victims' Families' Suffering Also Secondary Harm?"

"How Did the Victim Know Former Mayor Park's Cell Phone Password?"

Former Open Democratic Party lawmaker Sohn Hye-won. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Former Open Democratic Party lawmaker Son Hyewon sparked controversy over secondary victimization by asking the victim who reported the password of the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's cellphone, "How did you know?"

On the early morning of the 23rd, former lawmaker Son wrote on her Facebook, "How did the victim know the password of former Mayor Park's iPhone?"

Netizens who saw the post commented, "They are not victims yet, just complainants," and "Yesterday's second press conference. They only read support messages for the 'complainant' and ended it."

After criticism arose that Son's remarks were inappropriate, she posted again on Facebook, saying, "Is the family's suffering not secondary victimization? Why?"

Photo by Son Hyewon, former Open Democratic Party member, Facebook capture

Initially, former Mayor Park's work cellphone was an iPhone model, which is relatively secure, so it was expected that unlocking the password would take a considerable amount of time. However, it was reported that the victim side provided the password to the police, and the lock on former Mayor Park's cellphone was unlocked.

Subsequently, some supporters of former Mayor Park reacted, saying, "It's really strange that the victim knows the password of someone else's phone, not their own," and "Even if it's a work phone, would anyone give out the password so carelessly? Does a boss tell their secretary or close aides the password to a safe or their personal phone? If they didn't secretly look, it's suspicious that they knew it."

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