at the Central Party of Justice Party in Yeouido, Seoul on the afternoon of the 26th. Senior reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]” alt=”Bae Bok-ju, Vice President of Justice Party, is interviewing Bae Bok-ju, Vice President of Justice Party, on the afternoon of the 26th, at the Central Party of Justice Party in Yeouido, Seoul <한겨레>I am interviewing with Senior reporter Kim Bong-gyu [email protected]
Deputy Chairman Bae Bok-joo, who reported the fact of sexual harassment by former Justice Party CEO Kim Jong-cheol on the 18th, and reported to the party delegation on the 25th after fact-finding, described the week as’a time of pressure. It was Rep. Jang Hye-young, a victim, and the experience of supporting victims of sexual violence for over 20 years. On the 26th, Vice President Bae, who met at the Central Party of Justice Party in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, said, “If there was no internal conflict for the past week, it would be a lie. He said, “I have been supporting victims for 20 years and have been trying to keep the disciplined principles in my body.” The principle he said was not to pay attention to the’perpetrator’s narrative’. Vice President Bae said, “As seen in the case of former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, if you do not consider the acquaintance with the perpetrator, the trajectory of life, and the evaluation of the organization as separate issues from the sexual violence case, you will eventually fall into the perpetrator sympathy. In that case, it is difficult to approach the actual truth, and secondary damage will eventually occur. I was most wary of that,” he said. Deputy Deputy Representative Bae’s process of handling the case was completely closed because of concerns about secondary damage. ‘Is it appropriate to judge the case alone?’,’What will happen to the party after the case is made public?’ These are the thoughts that went back and forth over the head of Vice President Bae over the past week. It was thanks to Congressman Jang that he was able to overcome that time. Deputy Chairman Bae said, “Rep. Jang was not only a victim, but a colleague who worked with us, and as a member of our party, we had many concerns. Rep. Jang’s sensibility and the process of sharing his many thoughts were learning times for me. The victim was rather a supporter.” Deputy Chairman Bae said, “Because there have been accumulated moments when the Justice Party strongly spoke about sexual crimes,” he said. He said, “When we reported this incident at the delegation meeting on the 25th, everyone was shocked. However, there were moments when the party spoke strongly about sexual crimes by politicians, and there could be no disagreement because this process was shared by both the delegation and the legislator.” In the process of handling the case, Vice President Bae said that he gave several options to Assemblyman Chang. Among those options, Rep. Chang chose to disclose the victim’s real name and resolve it at the party level. At first, Vice President Bae was negative about the disclosure of the victim’s real name because he feared the second offense, but Rep. Chang made a different decision. Vice President Bae said, “In the case of Rep. Chang, he had two identities: a victim and a member of the National Assembly. It seems that it is difficult to continue as a politician without revealing that he is a victim. He said, “I thought that if I could stand up as a victim, I could be confident in the political space, so I decided to disclose my real name.” Vice President Bae still has a lot of work left. As the head of the Party’s Gender Human Rights Headquarters and vice-president, he has repeatedly apologized to the party members and the people for this case, and he is one of those who have the responsibility to change the Justice Party. First of all, preventing secondary abuse is an urgent task, but fundamentally improving and renewing the constitution of the party is also a major task. Vice President Bae said, “In the Justice Party, sexual violence cases can continue. The problem is to do really well with what happened. All party members are watching this case. I think how the party handles this case will have a learning effect.” By Jeong Hwan-bong, staff reporter [email protected]