"Enabling Sexual Crimes" Ongoing Power-Related Sexual Offenses, Government Remains 'Inactive'... Growing Public Criticism

Minister of Gender Equality Avoids Answering Questions on 'Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don Sexual Crimes'
Civilians Criticize Government for Leniency on Sexual Crimes and Lack of Gender Sensitivity
Seoul City Forms Special Committee to Eradicate Sexism and Sexual Harassment... Special Measures to Be Prepared by September

Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jeong-ok is speaking at the plenary meeting of the National Assembly's Gender Equality and Family Committee on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] Amid a series of power-based sexual crimes involving high-ranking officials, such as the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul, and allegations of sexual harassment by diplomats, the government has yet to establish effective countermeasures, drawing increasing criticism. It is pointed out that the government, which should protect citizens from crime victims, is fostering a social atmosphere that condones sexual crimes by adopting a lukewarm attitude.

On the 3rd, at the National Assembly's Women and Family Committee plenary session, Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jung-ok evaded a direct answer to the question, "Can the sexual harassment allegations against former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don and former Seoul Mayor Park be defined as power-based sexual crimes?" by stating, "It is inappropriate to define the charges for cases under investigation."

When asked whether she planned to suggest President Moon Jae-in, who claims to be a feminist, to make a statement on sexual crimes, she replied, "The authority to investigate and prosecute lies with the relevant departments. (The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family) is in a position to observe the investigation results."

Citizens criticized Minister Lee's attitude, saying she was "more focused on protecting the ruling party than on victim protection." Despite former Mayor Oh holding a press conference on April 23 admitting to sexual harassment and resigning, it was deemed inappropriate to evade the question of whether it was a power-based sexual crime.

Criticism that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs "overlooked sexual crimes" also surfaced. It was revealed that a high-ranking Korean diplomat was internally disciplined with a one-month pay cut last year after an internal investigation into allegations of sexually harassing a male employee while stationed in New Zealand.

Mr. A is accused of sexually harassing a local male employee three times, including touching his body parts, while working at the Korean Embassy in New Zealand at the end of 2017. According to the local online media Stuff on the 29th of last month, Mr. A denied the allegations, saying, "I am neither homosexual nor a sexual deviant. How could I sexually harass a white man stronger than me?" As the controversy over Mr. A's sexual harassment allegations escalated and showed signs of becoming an international conflict, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repatriated Mr. A on the 3rd.

Consequently, citizens are voicing criticism, saying, "A government with low gender sensitivity is condoning sexual crimes." Despite power-based sexual crimes occurring annually and being recognized as a serious social issue, it is pointed out that the government ignores the public's calls for strict punishment and fails to show active efforts to prevent recurrence.

According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on the 12th of last month, 13 people were prosecuted last year on charges of sexual intercourse by force or intimidation in the course of work. The number of people prosecuted for sexual harassment by force or intimidation in the course of work has exceeded 100 annually for the past five years. In the first half of this year, 58 people were indicted.

New Zealand Broadcasting News Hub screen capture / Photo by Yonhap News

In the political sphere, voices are calling for countermeasures and criticizing the government's lack of gender sensitivity regarding these issues.

Kim Jeong-jae, a member of the United Future Party, criticized Minister Lee's remarks, saying, "I was going to demand an apology from the minister, but I think she should resign instead," and added, "This is not the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family but the Ministry of Sexual Crime Concealment and Complicity."

Cho Hye-min, spokesperson for the Justice Party, also pointed out in a statement that day, "The minister's remarks are irresponsible," and "She is only eager to please the ruling party."

Kim Ki-hyun, also from the same party, posted on his Facebook on the 3rd a post titled "The shameful stigma of being a K-sexual harassment country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that caused incompetent diplomacy by watching the Blue House's low gender sensitivity," strongly criticizing, "This is not just the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' problem but directly related to the Blue House's flawed gender sensitivity."

Kim said, "I was shocked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' low gender sensitivity, which is far behind international and public awareness, and once again shocked by the incompetence that failed to resolve this issue until it became so severe. President Moon, who once said, 'If we cannot uncover the truth of sexual-related incidents among social elites, we cannot speak of a just society,' showed only sympathy for the perpetrator and no words of comfort or intention to investigate the truth regarding the recent Park Won-soon case."

He added, "Because the Blue House has such a lax and low gender sensitivity, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs might have tried to patch up and move past the situation. Clean water upstream leads to clean water downstream. The Blue House and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs must thoroughly reflect and actively take fundamental measures to prevent recurrence by fully revealing the truth, including the extent of the Blue House's involvement."

Song Da-young, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Policy Office, is announcing related measures at a briefing on the establishment of special measures and a task force to eradicate gender discrimination and sexual harassment, held at Seoul City Hall on the 3rd. Photo by Yonhap News

Experts also suggested that procedures should be established to prevent further harm and that these procedures must be guaranteed to activate immediately upon raising an issue.

Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University emphasized on the CBS radio program 'Sisa Jaki with Jung Kwan-yong' on the 14th of last month, "Institutions originally have internal procedures to investigate and discipline sexual violence cases internally. It is essential to establish and ensure that any procedures, such as inspection processes, function properly for the welfare of workers."

Meanwhile, Seoul City plans to form a special committee to eradicate gender discrimination and sexual harassment practices and prepare special measures by September.

On the 3rd, Seoul City announced the formation and operation of the 'Seoul City Special Committee for Eradication of Gender Discrimination and Sexual Harassment' (Special Committee), which includes external experts, and the 'Gender Equality Culture Innovation Committee' (Innovation Committee), which includes employees below grade 5.

Song Da-young, Director of Seoul City's Women and Family Policy Office, said, "Since internal employees' opinions are most important for understanding the actual situation, we will listen to their voices," and added, "We will also form a committee with external experts to objectively review and advise to prepare effective measures."

The Special Committee will advise on ▲ victim protection and support for returning to daily life ▲ prevention of secondary harm and recurrence ▲ improvement of gender discrimination culture and spread of gender equality culture ▲ improvement of employees' awareness of gender discrimination and enhancement of gender sensitivity ▲ improvement of sexual harassment and sexual violence reporting and handling systems ▲ improvement of organizational operation methods such as gender-discriminatory job assignments ▲ institutional improvements for preventing and responding to sexual crimes by elected officials.

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