Court Orders Submission of Evidence to Human Rights Commission on ‘Sexual Harassment by Former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon’

Human Rights Commission: "This is a sensitive human rights violation case, and disclosure of details may lead to secondary harm"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The court has ordered the National Human Rights Commission to submit evidence supporting its recognition of the sexual harassment allegations against the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul.

According to the legal community on the 15th, the Administrative Division 8 of the Seoul Administrative Court (Chief Judge Lee Jong-hwan), which is hearing the lawsuit filed by Park’s spouse Kang Nan-hee seeking to cancel the Commission’s recommendation decision, has ordered the Human Rights Commission to submit evidence supporting the sexual harassment allegations.

The plaintiff filed an administrative lawsuit in April last year and applied for a document submission order to the court the day before. This was because the Commission’s decision was based solely on the victim’s claims. The documents to be submitted include Telegram messages exchanged between former Mayor Park and the victim, as well as witness statements. The Human Rights Commission must resubmit the relevant materials to the court within 20 days from the date of service of the order.

The Human Rights Commission has taken a stance of refusing the document submission order, citing that it is a sensitive human rights violation case and that disclosure of the victim’s details could lead to secondary harm.

Earlier, the victim claimed that former Mayor Park sent inappropriate messages, photos, and emoticons late at night, and touched her nails and hands after doing nail art in his office. The Commission judged these claims to be true. Additionally, the Commission recommended that the Seoul Metropolitan Government protect the victim, prevent secondary damage, improve the secretariat’s operational practices based on gender role stereotypes, and establish gender-equal job guidelines.

On the same day, Jeong Cheol-seung, the plaintiff’s attorney, posted on his social media, “The court has sanctioned the Human Rights Commission’s anti-human rights, authoritarian, and oppressive behavior,” and added, “We will find out on what grounds the Commission judged and announced the sexual crime of former Mayor Park, which even investigative agencies have not recognized, as established.”

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