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Agence France-Presse

The head of a left-wing South Korean political party that has championed gender equality was sacked on Monday for sexually harassing one of his own MPs, a prominent rights campaigner.
Kim Jong-cheol was chairman of the Justice Party, which with six representatives is the third-largest in the South Korean parliament, and was stripped of his position after admitting harassing Jang Hye-yeong, the party said in a statement.
He is the latest male politician to be brought down by an abuse case in the socially conservative and traditionally patriarchal country, where victims have long faced pressure to remain silent.
Jang, 33, was elected last year and is among South Korea’s youngest MPs.
How South Korea’s #MeToo generation fights sexual abuse in schools
She is known for her human rights activism and drew up an anti-discrimination bill last year that would ban favouritism based on sex, race, age, sexual orientation, disability or religion, but has yet to be put to a vote.
The incident happened following a dinner last month, and the party mounted an investigation after Jang reported it three days later.
“This is blatant sexual harassment without a doubt,” deputy leader Bae Bok-ju told reporters.
“Kim, the perpetrator, has also acknowledged all allegations.”
I decided to make this public and hold him accountable because I believed doing so would restore my dignity
Jang Hye-yeong
South Korea remains male-dominated despite its economic and technological advances, and sexual abuse victims often face stigma, discouraging them from coming forward.
But the country has seen a widespread #MeToo movement in the last few years, sparked by a prosecutor who publicly accused a superior of groping her at a funeral.
In a statement Jang said the incident gave her “an enormous sense of shock and suffering”, involving “someone I deeply trusted as a political ally and with whom I campaigned together against sex crimes”.
“I decided to make this public and hold him accountable because I believed doing so would restore my dignity and pave a path for me to return to normal life,” she said, in comments lauded on social media.
Seoul will investigate sexual harassment claims against late mayor Park Won-soon
Kim admitted he “made physical contacts that the victim neither wanted nor consented to and committed clear sexual harassment”.
“This was an act that could not be excused and caused great harm to her,” he said in a statement, offering her his “deepest apology”.
The case comes after Seoul mayor Park Won-soon took his own life last year after he was accused of sexual harassment, the highest-profile politician disgraced by sexual misconduct in recent years.
Others include former provincial governor Ahn Hee-jung, who sought the presidency in 2017 but was jailed for three and a half years for sexual intercourse by abuse of authority after his female assistant accused him of repeatedly raping her.
Both Park and Ahn were members of President Moon Jae-in’s centre-left Democratic Party.


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South Korea

South Korean pro-equality party chief sacked for sexual harassment

Kim Jong-Cheol, then-chairman of South Korea's left-wing Justice Party, pictured speaking during a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul earlier this month. Photo: Yonhap/AFP

South Korea jails former Olympic coach for sexual assault, but case ‘tip of the iceberg’: academic

South Korean speed skater Shim Suk-hee’s disclosure in 2019 that she had been sexually abused by her coach sent shock waves through the country. Photo: AP

Shim Suk-Hee of South Korea, centre, celebrates as she crosses the finish line to win in the women's 3000m short track speedskating relay final at the Iceberg Skating Palace during the 2014 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 18, 2014, in Sochi, Russia. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

This photo taken on December 17, 2018 shows South Korean Olympic short track champion Shim Suk-hee outside the Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul. - Double Olympic gold medallist Shim Suk-hee broke down in tears as she told a South Korean court of the years of abuse she suffered at the hands of her coach. (Photo by YONHAP / YONHAP / AFP) / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT - NO ARCHIVES - RESTRICTED TO SUBSCRIPTION USE

South Korean court upholds 20-year prison term for ex-president Park Geun-hye over corruption

A supporter of Park Geun-hye walks past a banner with her picture in Seoul. Photo: AP

epa08936372 Members of South Korea’s far-right opposition Our Republican Party, including its leader Cho Won-jin (R), hold a rally to call for the acquittal of former ousted President Park Geun-hye in a high-profile corruption case, outside the Supreme Court in Seoul, South Korea, 14 January 2021. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

Park Geun-hye arrives for a trial at the Seoul Central District Court on February 27, 2018. File photo: Xinhua

Women’s rights: why Singapore wants to change the way we think about gender equality

Two women are reflected in a glass panel at the Chinatown district of Singapore. Photo: EPA

Singapore's Minister of Home Affairs and Law K Shanmugam. Photo: Handout

Women wear facemasks amid fears of the COVID-19 novel coronavirus in the Orchard Road shopping district in Singapore on March 10, 2020. (Photo by Louis KWOK / AFP)

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Monica Baey. Instagram

Women walk past an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei 225 and New York Dow indexes at a securities firm in Tokyo Thursday, June 18, 2020. Shares fell Thursday in Asia after another day of wobbly trading on Wall Street Wednesday, as markets ease off the accelerator following their big rally. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

=== PHOTO CAPTURED ONLINE=== Raeesah Khan from Singapore's opposition Workers' Party. Photo: Facebook

epa08479130 People wearing protective face masks walk in the Merlion Park in Singapore, 11 June 2020. Singapore has started to ease its circuit breaker measures against Covid-19 since 02 June and reopen the economy in phases. EPA-EFE/HOW HWEE YOUNG

Sexual harassment victims in China given a voice by exhibition that plays audio of their stories

Faces of sexual harassers drawn by their victims, part of an exhibition in Beijing. Photo: Tom Wang

Installations at an exhibit "Her Story -- Eliminating Gender Violence 2020", which was launched by feminism activists in Beijing, taken on November 26, 2020, the International Day on the Elimination of Violence Against Women. It is part of the United Nations special 16-day project of the same theme and will be on display until December 1, 2020. The curator is artist Zheng Hongbin, some other organisers would like to stay anonymous because they are activists and itâs sensitive. Some materials were also supplied by sexual harassment case victims.[28NOVEMBER2020 FEATURES]SCMP / Tom WANG

***ONE TIME USE ONLY, PLEASE CLEAR THE COPYRIGHTS BEFORE RE-USE - OTUO*** US-based engineer Luo Xixi; she revealed how she was sexually harassed by her professor when she was pursuing a graduate degree at Beihang University in Beijing 12 years ago.

Her Story – Eliminating Gender Violence 2020 opened in Beijing on November 25, International Day For the Elimination of Violence Against Women. A large composite photo of a man is made from images of accused sexual harassers. Photo: Tom Wang

South Korean lawmaker’s red dress stirs debate about sexism and male-dominated politics

Ryu Ho-jeong said: ‘What I am currently going through is what other women are also undergoing at their own workplace.’ Photo: Handout

SK lawmaker

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Asia

East Asia


Kim Jong-cheol was stripped of his position as chairman of the Justice Party, which is the third-largest in the South Korean parliament
He is the latest male politician to be brought down by an abuse case in the socially conservative and traditionally patriarchal country



Kim Jong-cheol was stripped of his position as chairman of the Justice Party, which with six representatives is the third-largest in the South Korean parliament.


Women and gender

Human rights

Sexual harassment and assault

Crime

South Korean pro-equality party chief sacked for sexual harassment

Kim Jong-cheol was stripped of his position as chairman of the Justice Party, which is the third-largest in the South Korean parliament He is the latest male politician to be brought down by an abuse case in the socially conservative and traditionally patriarchal country

Kim Jong-cheol was stripped of his position as chairman of the Justice Party, which is the third-largest in the South Korean parliament

He is the latest male politician to be brought down by an abuse case in the socially conservative and traditionally patriarchal country