In the case of corruption in Korea that appeared in the US Human Rights Report, “the motherland, Park Won-soon, Yoon Mi-hyang…”

Minister of Justice Cho Guk is entering his home in Bangbae-dong after receiving a bag from an official from the Ministry of Justice on October 14 last year. [연합뉴스]

VOA reported on the 20th (local time) that cases of corruption and sexual harassment of Korean public officials were specifically pointed out in the ‘2020 National Human Rights Report 2020’ scheduled to be published by the U.S. State Department. The human rights issue in North Korea was mainly pointed out, but last year’s report mentioned in detail the cases of corruption and sexual harassment by passport personnel.

The State Department pointed out allegations of corruption by former Justice Minister Cho Kook and National Assemblyman Kim Hong-geol in the’corruption’ section of the’Corruption and Lack of Government Transparency’.

As of October 2010, the report said, “As of October 2010, corruption investigations on former Minister Cho, his wife, Jung Kyung-shim, and those related to their families are continuing.” I was charged with violations, etc.,” he said. Cho’s allegations of corruption were contained for the second year in a row following the 2019 Human Rights Report.

Regarding former President Kim Dae-jung’s third son, Kim Hong-geol, and Democratic Party lawmaker, “I was expelled from the party on September 18 on suspicion of reporting a reduction in property while registering as a candidate.”

The report pointed out that sexual harassment became an important social issue in Korea last year in the’sexual harassment’ section of’discrimination, social abuse, and trafficking’, and that numerous sexual harassment charges were reported, including high-ranking officials. As a specific example, former Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and former Busan Mayor Oh Geo-don were discussed side by side.

Regarding former Mayor Park Won-soon, “The former secretary committed suicide on July 9, the day after suing Mayor Park for sexual harassment.” According to the complaint, Mayor Park has repeatedly made physical contact with the female secretary without consent from 2017 and received inappropriate messages. And sent photos, and this sexual harassment continued even after the female secretary moved to work,” he wrote.

After Mayor Park’s death, the complainant stated in a statement that “Mayor Park sent a picture of him wearing only his underwear, and asked for a hug in the bedroom next to the office.

The case was ended with the death of Mayor Park, according to the law, but women’s rights activists and the plaintiff’s lawyer continued to demand a thorough investigation, he said recently.

The State Department report explained that “Mayor Park was famous as an advocate for women’s rights, and was highly regarded for successfully representing a victim in the first sexual harassment case in Korea in 1993.”

Rep. Yoon Mi-hyang and Gil Won-ok’s comfort women’s grandmother. [사진 김복동의 희망]

The State Department also included charges of “use of comfort women’s funds” by Democratic Party lawmaker Yoon Mi-hyang, which struck last year.

The report said, “The prosecution said, “In September 2020, when Rep. Yoon Mi-hyang served as the chairman of the’Jeong Eui-yeon’, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that supports Japanese military comfort women, fraud, business embezzlement, job abandonment and funds He introduced that he was prosecuted on charges of usefulness.”

The report also cited restrictions on freedom of expression as an important human rights issue. Regarding the ban on leaflets against North Korea, human rights activists and opposition parties are criticizing it as a violation of freedom of expression.

In accordance with the Foreign Assistance Act, the State Department must annually report to Congress the human rights situation of all UN member states in the previous year. In the meantime, issues such as the National Security Law or conscientious objection have been raised in relation to the human rights situation in Korea.

In the ‘2016 National Human Rights Report’, former President Park Geun-hye and his close friend Seo-won Choi (Sunsil) pointed out political corruption, saying they were arrested for fraud, intimidation, and abuse of power.

Washington = Correspondent Park Hyun-young [email protected]