The Late Park Won-soon's Documentary 'First Defense' to Premiere in July... Controversy Over 'Secondary Harm'

Trailer Featuring Former Seoul Mayor's Chief Secretary's Claims
Kim Jaeryeon "Please Join in Stopping Secondary Harm"

The documentary "First Defense," which defends the late former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, is set to be released in July, raising concerns that it could lead to secondary victimization of the victim.

The documentary "First Defense," focusing on former Mayor Park, is scheduled for release in July. The production committee, "People Who Believe in Park Won-soon," unveiled a poster featuring Park on their official website on the 2nd. The poster included the phrase, "A person who defended the world, but he has left, and now those remaining seek to defend him."

The documentary is expected to question the truthfulness of the sexual misconduct allegations against former Mayor Park. In the first trailer released last month on YouTube, Kim Joo-myung, former Secretary to the Seoul Mayor, said, "The victim felt pride in working at the Secretary’s office," and Kang Jin-gu, CEO of The Tam-sa, stated, "At some point, raising even small doubts is labeled as secondary victimization."

Additionally, Son Byung-kwan, an OhmyNews journalist and author of the original work "The Birth of Tragedy" (2021), argued in the video, "The death of former Mayor Park itself has been accepted as an admission of guilt. In a situation where the party can no longer present a rebuttal, people are just speaking freely."

Concerns that this documentary could cause secondary victimization of the victim have been raised since the production news was announced in July last year. Although the police investigation was closed with "no prosecution" following former Mayor Park’s death, the National Human Rights Commission’s ex officio investigation in January 2021 recognized Park’s sexual harassment behavior. Park’s wife, Kang Nan-hee, filed an administrative lawsuit to cancel the Human Rights Commission’s decision but lost the first trial in November last year. In this context, the documentary, which compiles testimonies from people around former Mayor Park, is seen as an attempt to deny judicial judgment and merely constitutes secondary victimization of the victim.

However, Kang appealed the first trial decision. On the 20th of last month, in the appellate court, she argued, "Former Mayor Park is an innocent victim of sexual harassment but is being portrayed as the perpetrator," emphasizing, "The deceased, who was a victim of sexual harassment, is being described as the perpetrator."

The documentary poster "First Defense," released on the 2nd through the website of "People Who Believe in Park Won-soon." [Image source=People Who Believe in Park Won-soon website]

Kim Jae-ryeon, the lawyer representing the victim, stressed the need for firm participation to stop secondary victimization. The news of the release of "The Birth of Tragedy" appears to have highlighted that such attempts could effectively amount to secondary victimization of the victim.

On the 9th, Lawyer Kim posted on Facebook, "Secondary victimization of the victim and the lawyers supporting the victim is relentless. Seeing this situation, who would dare to expose the sexual violence of those in power, and who would readily represent the victim?"

Lawyer Kim urged people to raise their voices to prevent secondary victimization. He emphasized, "The silence of the community citizens becomes fertile ground for secondary victimizers to grow vigorously," adding, "Will we create fertile soil that allows secondary victimization to flourish, or will we eliminate the nutrients for secondary victimization with participation saying, 'That is wrong behavior' and 'It would be better to stop'? That choice depends on the courage and actions of ordinary people with common sense."

Despite the controversy, "First Defense" appears likely to be released. The documentary production team announced plans to release fact-check videos about the former Mayor Park case weekly on YouTube. The first fact-check video, uploaded on the 5th, is titled "The Truth of the 'Knee Incident'." It addressed rebuttal testimonies regarding the victim’s claim that former Mayor Park touched her knee with his lips.

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