Ruling Party Apologizes for Sexual Assault by Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don at the National Cemetery

[경향신문]

Reflecting on Past Mistakes? Yun Ho-jung, head of the Democratic Party of Korea’s emergency committee kneels and pays his respects in front of the memorial monument at the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on April 22. National Assembly press photographers

On April 22, Yun Ho-jung, head of the Democratic Party of Korea’s emergency committee apologized to the victims of sexual offenses by the former mayors of Seoul and Busan, Park Won-soon and Oh Keo-don respesctively. But the apology only raised doubts on its sincerity for the sudden apology was expressed while Yun paid respects at the National Cemetery more than two weeks after the crushing defeat in the April 7 by-elections.

This day, Yun visited the Seoul National Cemetery in Dongjak-gu, Seoul along with the party’s representatives on the floor and kneeled in front of the memorial monument as he paid his respects. In the visitor’s log, he wrote, “Our patriots, people, victims! We sincerely apologize. We will look after the lives of the people by respecting the thoughts of the people.” A party official said, “By victims, he referred to the victims of the incidents that brought about the by-elections.” Yun said, “I kneeled without thinking about it because I felt a rush of emotions, and was very sorry to the people for this difficult situation and I felt bowing in silence just wasn’t enough.”

However, the timing and location of Yun’s apology drew criticism questioning his sincerity. The apology came fifteen days after the election defeat, and the apology was not addressed personally to the victims, but was extended when he had gone to pay respects to the patriots who died for this country.

From inside the party, there were voices that actually assessed highly the apology by Mayor Oh Se-hoon on April 20. In a policy coordination meeting this day, lawmaker Lee Soo-jin (Dongjak District 2, Seoul) said, “His (Mayor Oh’s apology) was a more sincere and responsible apology,” and argued, “More than 15% of the women in their twenties turned their backs to both the Democratic Party and the People Power Party in the by-elections because of the lukewarm attitude of the politicians.”

The victims also reacted strongly against the latest action. A, who was sexually assaulted by Oh Keo-don, shared her views this day through the Busan Counseling Center Against Sexual Violence and said, “I am not a patriot buried in the National Cemetery. It was insulting.” She further said, “Last month, I requested an apology from the people in the Democratic Party who engaged in secondary victimization as well as a response at the party level, but the party remained silent. I don’t need an apology in words only. I want him to be accountable for his words.”

Yun said, “I did it (apologized) because I felt that our party had not given a sufficient apology from the heart,” and explained, “It is inappropriate to visit the victims, for it can unveil their identity. We visited the place (National Cemetery), because we felt it was a suitable place to make an apology.”