Kang Min-jin, a former youth justice spokesperson for the Justice Party, revealed on the 16th that she had been sexually assaulted by a party official in November last year. Former leader Kang asserted that the party leadership tried to ignore it even after being informed of this fact. Following the Democratic Party of Korea, the Justice Party has also been exposed to a circumstance of concealing sexual misconduct, and the wave is growing.
Kang said on Facebook on the same day, “Last November, the chairperson of a metropolitan provincial party made physical contact with my thigh. He continued, “I officially informed Representative Yeo Young-guk and others of this at the time of the Presidential Election Committee meeting, but Representative Yeo concluded that ‘I will warn the relevant chairperson and do not disclose this matter.’” He said, “The moment I raised the issue, I thought that I would not be able to survive in this party,” he said.
The second offense was also revealed. Kang said, “After the meeting, I was embarrassed by the constant calls and texts from the chairperson. Kang continued, “The party leader was aware of my case, and the general secretary, who is the chairman of the Central Party’s public office candidate qualification screening committee, was aware of it, but the party nominated him as a candidate for the June 1 local election without ever asking my intentions. “He said.
Prior to this, he claimed that he had also been sexually assaulted by Mr. A, a member of the Youth Justice Party. Former CEO Kang said, “When it was reported in March that I had ordered watchers to drive surrogate and deliver errands, Mr. A approached me to help. I was already pushed to the edge of a cliff, and Mr. A’s sexual assault was an act that pushed me over the cliff.”
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party of Korea voted to expel Rep. Park Wan-ju (3rd term, Cheonan-eul, Chungcheongnam-do), who is suspected of sexual misconduct. With Park’s expulsion, the Democratic Party’s number of seats rose to 167.
The Democratic Party held a general assembly of members this morning and unanimously voted on the expulsion bill of Rep. Park. This is a follow-up to the party leadership’s decision to be expelled from the emergency response committee last week. It is reported that some lawmakers expressed their concerns at the National Assembly that day, saying, “We did not give Rep. Park a proper opportunity to call.” In response, Democratic Party floor spokeswoman Oh Young-hoon said at a briefing after the National Assembly that day, “There were objections to some procedures, but we did not object to the final resolution, so we can say that the expulsion itself was passed unanimously.” The Democratic Party plans to take additional disciplinary action against Rep. Park within this week, including filing a complaint with the National Assembly Ethics Special Committee.
By Kim Ji-hyun, staff reporter jhk85@donga.com
