Lee Jong-bae "Democratic Party, which mentioned zero tolerance for sexual harassment by Justice Party leader, is the pot calling the kettle black"

Kim Jeongjae: "Victims' Courageous Actions Will Be an Opportunity to Advance Our Society's Awareness of Sexual Issues"

[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] On the 26th, Lee Jong-bae, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, commented on the sexual harassment case involving former Justice Party leader Kim Jong-chul, saying, "The Janus-faced duplicity, who advocates human rights and progressivism in front but commits despicable acts behind, came to mind." Lee criticized the Democratic Party's remarks emphasizing the principle of zero tolerance as 'blatant hypocrisy.'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

At the People Power Party's floor strategy meeting that day, Lee referred to Kim's sexual harassment case, stating, "The part where he committed a sexual harassment crime and just five days later advocated for the eradication of sexual violence at the New Year's press conference showed an extreme shamelessness that the word 'brazen' cannot fully describe."

He also criticized the Democratic Party's comments on the incident, such as 'beyond shock to horror,' 'zero tolerance measures,' and 'prevention of secondary damage,' saying, "I cannot help but ask whether the Democratic Party is qualified to make such statements." He added, "The Democratic Party is the hotbed of power-based sexual crimes," citing former Chungcheongnam-do Governor Ahn Hee-jung, former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, and former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don, all Democratic Party-affiliated metropolitan leaders who committed shameless sexual violence, and noted that due to their responsibility, 83.8 billion won of taxpayers' money was spent, leading to the upcoming by-elections."

Regarding the National Human Rights Commission's announcement the previous day that former Mayor Park's actions constituted sexual harassment, he said, "The Democratic Party must respond," and added, "Just as the Democratic Party demanded zero tolerance and immediate measures to prevent secondary damage against the Justice Party, we again demand such measures."

People Power Party lawmaker Kim Jeong-jae also stated, "The occurrence of power-based sexual crimes even within the Justice Party shows that women's human rights awareness still remains in the authoritarian era," and added, "It shows that there is still a long way to go for human rights to be firmly established in a democratic society."

Regarding the Human Rights Commission's conclusion on former Mayor Park, Kim said, "The courageous actions of the victim will be remembered as an opportunity to advance our society's awareness of sexual issues."

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