Kwon In-sook: "Park Won-soon's Death a Bolt from the Blue... Hard to Hold Back Tears at Condolence Visit"

"It Seems to Be Due to Despair Over the Baffling Irony"
"The Causes of Power-Related Sexual Crimes Must Be Investigated"

Kwon In-sook, Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Kwon Insook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, expressed her sorrow over the death of the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul, calling it "a bolt from the blue."

On the 31st, Kwon wrote on her Facebook, "The day after he passed away, it felt like ten holes in my mouth burst open. At the early morning condolence visit the next day, tears came out that were hard to hide with sobbing sounds," revealing her feelings.

She continued, "It seems to be partly because of the intertwined history of life with him and partly because of despair over the cruel irony," adding, "I thought my responsibility was to properly bear the lesson that came at such a heavy cost."

Kwon was a victim of the 1986 Bucheon Police Station sexual torture case, and Park, who was a human rights lawyer at the time, was one of the nine lawyers who helped her.

However, Kwon emphasized, "We must thoroughly investigate the causes of power-based sexual crimes, which are a significant issue in our society, and at least in the public sector, firmly establish a gender-equal organizational culture as the most fundamental preventive measure," adding, "It is also clear that we must not lose the basic social morality of protecting the victim's personal information."

On the morning of July 13, when the funeral ceremony for the late Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, was held, citizens paid their respects at the incense altar set up in Seoul Plaza. / Photo by Yonhap News

She added, "Now, I hope everyone gathers their resolve and carefully judges what the progressive direction forward should be," and "In the new year, I will take the promise of creating laws and systems that can make gender equality a governing principle on more diverse levels as a source of hope."

Earlier, on the 29th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency announced that it had closed the investigation into the sexual harassment allegations against former Mayor Park with a 'no prosecution' decision and forwarded the case to the prosecution with a non-indictment opinion.

Regarding the charges of aiding and abetting sexual assault against seven people, including the Deputy Mayor of Seoul and former and current secretariat chiefs, the police investigated 26 witnesses, including Seoul city employees, and five accused individuals but judged that there was insufficient evidence to prove the aiding and abetting charges.

The so-called 'secretary sexual harassment allegations' surfaced after former Mayor Park's former secretary A filed a complaint on July 8, accusing him of sexual harassment.

The day after the complaint was filed (July 9), contact with former Mayor Park was lost. After receiving a missing person report from Park's daughter, police and fire authorities conducted a search operation from 5:30 p.m. that day until midnight the next day, lasting about six and a half hours, and found Park's body near Sukjeongmun in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

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