Seoul City, "Humbly Accepts Ministry of Gender Equality's Criticism"... Will Actively Cooperate with Human Rights Commission's Ex Officio Investigation

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 Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Regarding the sexual harassment allegations against the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul, the Seoul Metropolitan Government stated that it humbly accepts the points raised through the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family’s on-site inspection and will reflect them in the establishment of future improvement measures.

On the 30th, Seoul City said in a statement, "Regarding the protection and support of victims, we do not directly contact the victims to protect their identity due to the risk of exposure and concerns about secondary damage, but we are providing multifaceted support."

The city also explained, "Through the operation of 27 sexual violence victim support facilities and project funding, we provide counseling and mental treatment support, therapeutic recovery programs for physical and emotional recovery, and legal support to victims. Among these are organizations such as the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center and Korea Women’s Hotline, which protect and support victims."

It added, "As stated in the first Seoul City briefing on the 15th, we plan to take all possible measures to ensure that the victim can return to work as a Seoul city official without employment disadvantages or secondary damage."

Earlier, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family disclosed the results of an on-site inspection conducted by the Government-wide Task Force for the Eradication of Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence on the 28th and 29th, pointing out that "Seoul City has yet to establish protection measures for the victim, a former secretary, and revealed several problems including concerns about information leakage in the sexual violence grievance handling system."

Seoul City also stated regarding the National Human Rights Commission’s decision at the standing committee meeting on the same day to investigate the sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations against former Mayor Park ex officio, "We will actively cooperate with the National Human Rights Commission’s ex officio investigation so that the truth can be clarified as soon as possible."

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