K-pop suicide sparks a reckoning on revenge porn, sexual assault and outdated attitudes in South Korea

The latest suicide of a popular South Korean singer has prompted calls in the country to overhaul laws on sexual assault and to more harshly punish revenge porn.

Goo Hara, 28, was found dead at her home in Seoul on Sunday. Her last message on Instagram showed her staring into a camera lens from beneath blankets on her bed with a message of “good night”. Police say a note was found at the scene in which she expressed hopelessness.

Many in South Korea were already aware of her past, which included assault by a former boyfriend who she alleged was threatening to release a sex video of her. The two most popular hashtags on social media in South Korea this week called for punishment of the ex-boyfriend and for the definition of sexual assault to be revamped.

A petition filed with the president’s office demanding changes to laws had one quarter of a million signatures. Lawmakers said it is time to push forward measures stalled in parliament that make it easier to impose harsh penalties on those who engage in revenge porn or clandestinely take sexually explicit videos.

Liberal lawmaker Lee Jung-mi of the minor Justice Party said in a social media post that Goo’s death shows that change is needed because the nation “cannot neglect illegal filming and circulation of videos”.