Candidate Jeong Young-ae: "Park Won-soon Seoul City Funeral Inappropriate... Visiting An Hee-jung's Mother's Funeral Is Not Secondary Harm" (Summary)

Hearing Held on the 24th
Questions Flooded on Power-Related Sexual Crimes and Secondary Victimization

Jeong Young-ae, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, is taking the oath as a witness at the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Yoon Dong-ju doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 24th, the questioning at the confirmation hearing for Jeong Young-ae, nominee for Minister of Gender Equality and Family, held at the National Assembly, mainly revolved around power-related sexual crimes and secondary victimization.

At the hearing held by the Gender Equality and Family Committee, nominee Jeong Young-ae expressed the position that the disclosure of a letter written by the victim who was sexually harassed by the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, along with the victim’s real name, constitutes secondary victimization and is subject to punishment.

Nominee Jeong explained, "According to Article 24, Paragraph 2 of the Special Act on the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, revealing the real name and identifying the victim to the extent that personal information can be ascertained, or providing related information without the victim’s consent, falls under the scope of punishable offenses," adding, "In other words, it constitutes secondary victimization."

Regarding holding the funeral of the late Mayor Park as a Seoul City funeral, she also stated that it was inappropriate from the victim’s perspective. Nominee Jeong said, "From the standpoint of an institution supporting the victim," adding, "I think it was inappropriate for the funeral to be conducted as a five-day funeral at the Seoul city level."

When asked by former lawmaker Jeon whether the group responsible for causing the issue should take responsibility, she replied, "It does not seem appropriate for me to respond regarding matters related to the government," without making specific remarks.

'Victim complainant' remark was "insufficient"
Remarks by Byeon Chang-heum and inappropriate book by Tak Hyun-min
Prosecutor Jin Hye-won’s SNS, borderline secondary victimization

Regarding the criticism from People Power Party lawmaker Jeon Ju-hye that the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family referred to the victim as a 'victim complainant' and did not stand on the victim’s side, she said, "I believe it is correct to call them a victim," emphasizing, "The Ministry is currently taking various measures to support victims. We will do our best to reinforce any parts that are considered insufficient."

On the remarks by Byeon Chang-heum, nominee for Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, that "women avoid having breakfast with strangers because of makeup," she said, "It is inappropriate." She also described the book by Tak Hyun-min, Protocol Secretary at the Blue House, which caused controversy for misogynistic remarks, as inappropriate and written with a distorted perception of gender.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport nominee Byeon Chang-heum attended the confirmation hearing held at the National Assembly on the 23rd and bowed his head to the public to apologize during the hearing regarding recent allegations. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

Regarding demands from women’s groups for Tak’s dismissal, she said, "It is not appropriate for me to respond to personnel matters of the Presidential Secretariat." However, when asked if she would tell the President that it is unacceptable if he is appointed to another position in the future, she replied, "I will express my opinion."

On the controversy over condolences for the late mother of former Chungnam Governor Ahn Hee-jung, she said it was difficult to consider it as 'secondary victimization.' Nominee Jeong explained, "It is related to our country’s culture of expressing condolences," adding, "Secondary victimization is limited to acts that blame or identify the victim, or disclose the victim’s identity and information."

Regarding Jin Hye-won, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office, who posted a photo on her social media showing her arm-in-arm with the late Mayor Park, nominee Jeong responded, "I think it is an act on the borderline of secondary victimization."

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