한국 대통령, "나는 페미니스트"...그의 측근 중 세 명 성범죄로 기소 - CNN VIDEO: South Korea's President says he's a feminist. Three of his allies have been accused of sex crimes

South Korea's President says he's a feminist. Three of his allies have been accused of sex crimes

Julia Hollingsworth byline

By Yoonjung Seo and Julia Hollingsworth, CNN

Updated 0325 GMT (1125 HKT) July 16, 2020

Seoul, South Korea (CNN)The woman who accused Seoul's mayor of sexual harassment says the city government told her he wasn't "that kind of person" when she made her complaint, according to two non-profit organizations working with her.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon speaks during a press conference at Seoul City Hall in Seoul, South Korea on July 8, 2020.

한국 대통령, "나는 페미니스트"...그의 측근 중 세 명 성범죄로 기소    서울시장을 성추행 혐의로 고발한 그 여성은 서울시가 그녀가 불만을 제기했을 때 "그는 그런 사람"이 아니라고 말했다고 두 시민 단체가 말했다. 박원순(64) 시장은 성추행 고소장이 경찰에 접수된 직후 지난 주 명백한 자살로 사망했는데, 이는 피해자의 주장이 형사적으로 조사되지 않았는다는 것을 의미한다. 그러나 이는 한국의 여성 인권 단체들 사이에서 불똥이 튀었고, '대통령'이 되겠다는 공약을 내걸고 선거운동을 했던 문재인 대통령이 성희롱을 얼마나 심각하게 받아들이고 있는지에 대한 의문을 제기했다. 박 시장은 최근 몇 년간 문재인의 민주당과 연계해 성희롱이나 폭행 혐의로 고발된 세 번째 최고직이다. 서울시가 박 시장의 비위 의혹에 대한 내사에 착수함에 따라 당과 정부 모두 성범죄 피해자 지원을 위해 더 많은 노력을 기울여야 한다는 목소리가 나오고 있다. 4년간 괴롭힌 혐의 문재인처럼 박 시장도 자신을 페미니스트라고 표현했다. 그를 한국에서 두 번째로 영향력 있는 관료로 만든 역할인 서울시장으로서 그는 여성을 돕는 것을 목적으로 하는 복지 정책을 시행했고 미투 운동의 열렬한 지지자였다. 인권변호사 출신인 박씨는 1990년대에 한국 최초의 성공적인 성희롱 유죄 판결 중 하나에서 피해자를 변호했다. 1980년대에 그는 권력에 대한 성폭행 혐의를 제기한 최초의 여성 중 한 명을 변호했던 변호사 팀의 일원이었다. 그랬던 그가.... 황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 Ki Chul Hwang Conpaper editor curator

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Park Won-soon, 64, died in an apparent suicide last week shortly after the sexual harassment claims were filed with police, meaning that the victim's claims won't be criminally investigated.

But the accusations of Park's former secretary have sparked a firestorm among women's rights groups in South Korea, and raised questions over how seriously sexual harassment is really taken by President Moon Jae-in, who campaigned on the promise of becoming a "feminist president."

Park is now the third top leader associated with Moon's Democratic Party to be accused of sexual harassment or assault in recent years. As the Seoul City Government launches an internal investigation into Park's alleged misconduct, there are calls for both the party -- and the government -- to do more to support victims of sex crimes.

Leading women's rights activists and a lawyer hold a press conference for a female secretary of the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon on July 13, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.

Four years of alleged harassment

Like Moon, Park described himself as a feminist.

As Seoul's mayor -- a role that made him the second-most powerful official in South Korea -- he implemented welfare policies aimed at helping women and was a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement. A former human rights lawyer, in the 1990s Park represented the victim in one of South Korea's first successful sexual harassment convictions. In the 1980s, he was part of the team of lawyers who represented one of the first women to bring charges of sexual assault against authorities.

In a press conference Monday, the alleged victim's lawyer, Kim Jae-ryon, claimed Park had sent pictures of himself in his underwear to his secretary, as well as obscene, late-night messages over the encrypted app Telegram. On one occasion, when he saw a bruise on her knee, he pretended to blow air on it to ease the pain but allegedly touched her knee with his lips, Kim said.

How the dramatic death of Seoul's mayor left a country divided

The four years of alleged harassment began when the woman was hired as Park's secretary and continued after she had moved to another department, said Kim. In a letter written by the accuser, and read at Monday's press conference, the alleged victim said she "should have screamed the first time it happened" and she regrets not coming forward earlier.

CNN has reached out to the accuser through her lawyer. The lawyer did not wish to comment beyond what she said at the press conference. Park did not comment on the allegations before his death.

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Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is found dead after he was reported missing 

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