Lee Su-jeong "Democratic Party, Apology for Park Won-soon's Abuse? No Admission of Wrongdoing at All"

Professor Lee Su-jeong of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University is speaking at the 1st meeting of the Special Committee on Sexual Violence Countermeasures of the United Future Party (now the People Power Party) held at the National Assembly on August 20 last year. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-eun] Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University pointed out on the 17th regarding the sexual harassment case of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, saying, "An apology requires a process of admitting 'this is what the wrongdoing was,' but (within the Democratic Party) who actually admitted it?"

On the same day, on CBS Radio's 'Kim Jong-dae's News Up,' Professor Lee said, "I believe that an apology must be considered an apology from the victim's perspective," adding, "So if someone has a misunderstanding, there should be an effort to clear up that misunderstanding and ask for forgiveness so that such incidents do not recur. To be precise, who admitted the wrongdoing?"

She then compared it to the sexual harassment case involving former Justice Party leader Kim Jong-chul, saying, "In the Justice Party, the entire party stood by the victim, and the perpetrator admitted the wrongdoing and took responsibility," and criticized, "(But the Democratic Party) why from the start did they not even allow the victim to be called a victim, instead calling them a 'complainant'? I don't know if that was their way of appealing, but they took an attitude of 'We cannot acknowledge that harm.' Wasn't that a political gesture?"

On the morning of the 17th, a seat was prepared for the late Park Won-soon's sexual violence case victim at a press conference titled "Speaking Together with the Victims of the Seoul Mayor's Sexual Violence Case," held at a hotel in Myeongdong, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

Regarding the victim of former Mayor Park's sexual harassment case speaking out directly at a press conference, she said, "It must have been an extremely difficult and painful situation," and added, "Not only this victim but whenever sexual violence victims disclose their experiences, it always comes with a great burden, so society as a whole needs to empathize and understand this situation."

Professor Lee said, "It is inevitable that the victim is sensitive about this election," and continued, "If the facts are accurately revealed and those who should be punished are punished, secondary harm would be somewhat reduced. But right now, the procedures to determine guilt or innocence in this case have not even begun, and from the perspective of those who believe the substantive truth has not been clearly revealed, they continue to impose responsibility on the victim for this unfortunate situation, which causes significant secondary harm."

She added, "To what extent must the victim have suffered and felt anxious to come out despite everything and plead once again in front of the press that what happened was not something that never happened? Is that a normal society?" and criticized, "I think this is unprecedented."

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