[Summary] "Using My Life as a Means" Victims of Sexual Misconduct by Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don Express 'Anger'

Victim Side: "Power Re-Creation Greed Through Party Charter Amendment Tricks"
"How Can We Trust Such Actions?" Outburst of Anger

Kim Hye-jung, Deputy Director of the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center, is holding a placard with the phrase "We stand in solidarity with the victims" at a press conference on the sexual harassment case by the Seoul mayor, held on July 13 at the Korea Women's Hotline in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] The Democratic Party of Korea plans to nominate candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections scheduled for April next year. In response to this decision, victims of sexual misconduct cases involving the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don have voiced strong criticism.

On the 3rd, the victims of former Mayor Park’s sexual harassment came forward to criticize the Democratic Party of Korea for deciding to field a candidate in next year’s Seoul mayoral by-election. The 'Joint Action on the Seoul Mayor’s Power Sexual Violence Case,' which supports the victims of the former mayor’s case, stated in a press release that day, "The Democratic Party has secured procedural legitimacy for nominating candidates in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections next year through 'self-contradiction,'" adding, "Although they announced plans to operate an 'Ethics Reporting Center' and a 'Gender Violence Reporting Counseling Center,' how can we trust these measures alongside such actions?"

They also rebutted the Democratic Party’s logic of 'responsible politics.' Earlier, Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon explained the reason for nominating candidates in the by-elections by amending the party constitution, saying, "Being judged by citizens through candidate nomination is a responsible duty."

Regarding this, the victims stated, "'Responsible politics' means identifying the structural problems that inevitably lead to power-based sexual violence cases, preparing measures to prevent recurrence, and prioritizing efforts to prevent secondary damage to victims and help them return to daily life," adding, "How is the Democratic Party behaving now? Instead of making fundamental reflections and efforts to prevent recurrence as a public party, they are resorting to tricks like amending the party constitution and greedily pursuing power regeneration. Is that the 'duty of a public party'?"

Lee Jung-ok, Minister of Gender Equality and Family / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, on the 5th, victim A of former Mayor Oh’s sexual harassment case raised their voice, saying, "If the Oh Keo-don case is a collective learning opportunity, am I a study material?"

A’s remarks were a criticism of Minister of Gender Equality and Family Lee Jung-ok’s comment during the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee plenary session that morning. Lee mentioned that the total budget of 83.8 billion won for next year’s Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections "would instead serve as an opportunity for the entire nation to collectively learn about gender awareness."

Through the Oh Keo-don Sexual Violence Joint Countermeasures Committee, A said, "If there was even the slightest interest in how I live, they would never say such things," adding, "How can a Minister of Gender Equality treat my life as a means? Hearing that broke me down again today."

They continued, "I was so shocked and disgusted that I even vomited all the food I ate. I sincerely wonder if they could say such things in front of me."

On the 5th, Lee Nak-yeon, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, attended the Economic Headquarters meeting of the National Crisis Overcoming K-New Deal Committee held at the National Assembly and delivered opening remarks. The meeting, held in celebration of Small Business Owners' Day, was attended by relevant ministers including Park Young-sun, Minister of SMEs and Startups, and Sung Yun-mo, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, as well as key small business association leaders such as Kim Kyung-bae, Chairman of the Korea Regional Economy Revitalization Association, and Ha Hyun-soo, Chairman of the National Merchants Federation. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party amended its party constitution on the 2nd to decide to field candidates in the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections. Earlier, from the 30th to the 31st of last month, 211,804 out of 803,959 total party members (26.35%) participated in a vote, with 86.64% supporting the amendment to nominate candidates in the by-elections.

According to Article 96, Paragraph 2 of the Democratic Party’s constitution, established in 2015 when Moon Jae-in was party leader, if an elected official from the party loses their position due to a 'serious wrongdoing' such as corruption or misconduct, the party shall not field a candidate in the resulting by-election.

If the 'serious wrongdoing' specified in the party constitution is extended to include sexual misconduct, the Democratic Party cannot field candidates for the Seoul and Busan mayoral by-elections next year according to the party constitution.

In response, Democratic Party leader Lee Nak-yeon announced at a party meeting on the 29th of last month that the party would amend the constitution to field candidates.

At that time, Lee explained the reason for nominating candidates, saying, "After listening to opinions inside and outside the party for a long time, I came to think that not fielding candidates is not the only responsible choice, and rather being judged through nomination is a responsible duty," adding, "There were also criticisms that not fielding candidates, despite pure intentions, excessively restricts voters’ right to choose."

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