Adults of Miryang bow their heads 20 years after gang rape case occurred in city

Heads of 80 institutions and organizations in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, are bowing and apologizing to the public for the gang rape case occured in the city in 2004 at Miryang City Hall on June 25. Yonhap News

The heads of local institutions and organizations in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province, on June 25 bowed their heads and apologized to the public for the “gang rape case in Miryang” that caused a stir across the country as the incident of 20 years ago was re-examined.

The local courts, prosecutors, police, and educational institutions did not participate in the press conference to apologize to the public.

The heads of 80 institutions and organizations, including Miryang Mayor Ahn Byung-gu and City Council Chairman Huh Hong, held a press conference at Miryang City Hall and issued a joint apology to people.

Ahn read the apology on behalf of the city, and the members of the city council and civic organizations together bowed their heads to express their deepest apologies to the victims and their families, and the public.

The joint apology was made with the idea that Miryang, which is at the center of the controversial gang rape case happened 20 years ago, should not close its eyes to the public indignation and get away with it again. The city held a countermeasures meeting on the case on June 7 and decided to issue an official statement expressing regret.

Ahn said, "The fault of adults who have to teach children well and lead them properly is great and the local community that has not been able to properly reflect and apologize is not free from responsibility." He added, "Above all, I sincerely hope that the human rights of the victims will be respected and protected and that she will no longer suffer.”

Local institutions, organizations, and religious communities in Miryang will conduct voluntary support activities to help heal the pain of the case. Local temples, churches, and religious organizations, including Catholicism and Won Buddhism, are preparing to hold joint worship services and prayers for penance, reflection, and healing for the victims.

Confucianism organizations, including Hyanggyo and Sungkyunkwan Confucian Association, are planning to raise ethical awareness to students by holding ancestral rites or operating education programs at schools.

The Integrated Sexual Violence and Domestic Violence Counseling Center in Miryang plans to raise funds to support the recovery of victims by the end of this month and deliver them to the victims through the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.

"Citizens and the public are also encouraged to take an interest in and help the victims recover their daily lives as soon as possible," said Ahn.

Up to this day, 140 complaints related to the victims' identity revelation were received by the Miryang Police Station and Gimhae Police Station. Nine of the alleged perpetrators claimed to be “unrelated to the incident” and submitted a collective petition to “punish the persons who spread the false facts for defamation.”

They also reportedly filed a complaint with The Korea Communications Standards Commission asking for the deletion of their photos, saying that photos of them who are unrelated to the incident are used for broadcasting.

The gang rape case in Miryang is an incident in which 44 high school students from the city lured a female middle school student from Ulsan to Milyang in December 2004 and sexually assaulted her for a year.

Earlier this month, a person who appeared on a TV program introducing great restaurants was named as the perpetrator of the case on an online community, bringing the case back into the spotlight and sparking controversy.

The Ulsan District Prosecutor's Office, which investigated the case, indicted 10 of the perpetrators (7 detained and 3 charged without detention). Twenty were sent to juvenile detention centers. The remaining perpetrators either reached an agreement with the victims or were not included in the complaint, resulting in a decision of “the right of arraignment will be cleared.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.