Professor Dismissed Over Sexual Harassment Allegations Prepares Lawsuit... Civic Group Welcomes "Truth Revealed"

On the morning of the 21st at 10 a.m., the Joint Action for the Dismissal of Professor A, who committed human rights violations at Hongik University College of Fine Arts, held a press conference and stated, "Since the first press conference of the victims held on September 8, 2021, we have concluded a 226-day struggle," welcoming the school's decision to dismiss him.
Photo by Oh Gyumin moh011@

원본보기 아이콘

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] A university professor known for making sexually harassing and personally insulting remarks has decided to take administrative and legal action in response to the school's dismissal measures.

Professor A of Hongik University College of Fine Arts said in a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 21st, "I have already been personally ruined," and completely denied the related allegations. Professor A stated that he would raise issues regarding the unfairness of the dismissal, including filing a complaint with the Faculty Appeal Committee, and is preparing for future litigation.

Professor A was accused last September of repeatedly making sexually harassing and personally insulting remarks to undergraduate and graduate students at Hongik University College of Fine Arts. He is reported to have said during class or in private, "If you hadn’t become a writer, you would have made a lot of money from the n-bunbang (digital sex crime and sexual exploitation case)." Allegations were also raised that he assigned personal outsourcing work without paying appropriate wages or shifted exhibition production costs onto students.

Regarding this, Professor A said, "Other students who recorded the class content provided all the files, and I submitted about 6,000 pages of documents to the school," and claimed, "About half of the alleged remarks were never made, and the rest were maliciously distorted." He also said, "The friend who raised the complaint kept changing specific dates, but I reviewed the schedules and card usage records for those dates and submitted them to the school," adding, "They were not dates related to the studio, and at that time, the studio was even left empty due to moving issues."

On the allegations of personally insulting remarks and ‘labor exploitation,’ he said, "If I was wrong, I think I should be punished, and since the truth must be revealed, I asked (related organizations) several times to file a lawsuit, but they did not."

On the other hand, the related organizations that have been pushing for Professor A’s dismissal welcomed the dismissal and decided to proceed with additional lawsuits. Kim Minseok, the representative of the Joint Action for the Dismissal of Professor A for Human Rights Violations at Hongik University College of Fine Arts (hereinafter Joint Action), said, "First, through (Professor A’s) dismissal, it seems that the space separation between victims and perpetrators has been achieved, so the primary resolution has been made," but added, "If there are victims who wish, lawsuits will be conducted in the form of civil litigation."

Joint Action held a press conference in front of Hongik University’s main gate on the same day to welcome the decision to dismiss Professor A, stating, "The disciplinary committee’s decision revealed that the victims’ reports were true," and said, "It is necessary to establish a school human rights center and enact a faculty ethics charter in the future."

© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.