'Sexual Assault by Secretary Office Colleague' Former Seoul City Employee "I Want to Settle with the Victim"

Seoul Central District Court / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] A former Seoul mayor’s secretary office employee, who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for sexually assaulting a fellow public official, expressed a desire to reach a settlement with the victim during the appeal trial.

The defense attorney of former Seoul public official Mr. A stated at the first appeal hearing held on the 18th at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 9 (Presiding Judge Kwangseop Moon) that "the defendant is making efforts to settle with the victim." In the previous first trial, Mr. A admitted to sexual harassment charges but denied sexual assault, claiming partial innocence. However, during this appeal trial, he did not maintain such claims and changed his stance, stating that he would only contest the sentencing. The court accepted Mr. A’s attorney’s request for an opportunity to settle with the victim and decided to hold one more hearing on the 22nd of next month.

Mr. A was prosecuted on charges of quasi-rape causing injury (준강간치상) for taking a drunken Mr. B to a motel and sexually assaulting him the day before the April 15, 2019 general election, causing him to suffer from PTSD. The first trial court sentenced him to 3 years and 6 months in prison, stating that "the crime is serious as the victim was raped and suffered post-traumatic stress injury." Meanwhile, Mr. B is also known as the person who accused former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon of sexual harassment.

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