The Justice Party, the most progressive voice on gender equality and gender issues, faced the greatest crisis after 9 years of its founding due to the sexual harassment incident by Party leader Kim Jong-cheol.
The Justice Party held an emergency press conference at 10 am on the 25th at the Communication Hall of the National Assembly. Vice President Bae Bok-joo, head of the Justice Party’s Gender Human Rights Headquarters, said, “We are here to inform you of very embarrassing and terrible news. It is a sexual harassment case by CEO Kim Jong-cheol. The victim is the party’s Rep. Jang Hye-young.” He added, “It was the decision of Senator Chang to disclose the victim’s real name and respected it.”
Justice Party CEO Kim Jong-cheol is answering questions from reporters at a New Year’s press conference at the National Assembly on the 20th. This day was five days after the sexual harassment incident.
After the interview, statements of the victims and the perpetrators were released one after another.
First, Rep. Jang said, “The shock and pain of undermining my dignity as an equal human being from a political comrade and trusted party representative who had shouted to eradicate gender violence was really great.” He added, “It is the way to restore my dignity as a human being and return to my daily life,” he added. “If I hide the facts of the damage, I will be trapped in this case forever.”
Rep. Chang also said, “There is no such thing as a victim, and any woman can be a victim of sexual violence. There is no perpetrator. No matter how much he has lived a wonderful life or is respected by many people, there are no exceptions.”
Justice Party lawmaker Jang Hye-young said in a statement on the 25th, “We have disclosed the facts of the damage in order to restore our dignity as a human and return to our daily lives.”
CEO Kim said, “I committed an obvious harassment. I sincerely apologize to the victims,” he said, saying, “I request severe disciplinary action against me from the Delegation of the Justice Party and the current committee.”
What happened ten days after that day…
Summarizing the two’s statements and the interview by Bae Bok-joo, head of the headquarters, it was just after dinner at Yeouido, Seoul on the 15th that Representative Kim molested Rep. Jang. I just put it in the dining room. CEO Kim said, “This was a place I asked for. While waiting for the vehicle to come out after eating, the victim made improper physical contact that he did not want and had no consent at all.”
The post-occurrence development was different from other sexual harassment cases where concealment or contempt was common. Director Bae explained, “On the day of the incident, Rep. Jang protested against CEO Kim, and CEO Kim admitted to his fault and apologized.” Representative Kim told Rep. Jang that he would ▶ resign from the party’s position and receive education on sexual violence prevention. lost. It was three days after the incident that Rep. Jang informed of the incident to Bae headquarters. After investigating both sides, Bae’s headquarters reported the details to the delegation meeting that day.
Vice President Bae Bok-joo (left), who is in charge of the Gender Human Rights Headquarters of the Justice Party, is wiping tears during an emergency press conference on the sexual harassment incident of CEO Kim Jong-cheol at the National Assembly communication hall on the 25th. On the right is Jeong Ho-jin, chief spokesman.
In the meantime, at the New Year’s press conference, CEO Kim emphasized gender equality. While discussing’Alpes’, a trend that targets male idols. “It is true that the composition of sexual power in society is overwhelmingly unfavorable to women. “Alpes” should not be written to overcome the reality that women are suffering from sexual violence.”
Our representative gets off after 3 months… Panic Justice Party
The atmosphere of the delegation meeting when he first heard the news on this day, Ho-jin Chung, said, “A lot of people were surprised and terrible.” The Justice Party immediately decided to file a lawsuit against President Kim and file a complaint for the current period, and Vice President Kim Yoon-ki decided to take over. However, after three months of election, the party’s representative disembarked, causing the Justice Party to panic. The Justice Party website says, “I am no longer embarrassed to be a party member. Comments such as “I feel betrayed” and “It is terrible that the perpetrator is the party’s representative in the Justice Party, not other parties,” followed. The Justice Party’s SNS has even claimed that “the party should be dismantled.”
Comments posted on the Justice Party bulletin board
Representative Kim in his 40s, the perpetrator, and Rep. Jang in his 30s, a victim, were troikas that formed the center of the’post-Sang-Jung Shim’ system along with Rep. Ryu Ho-jeong, a victim in his 20s. Kim, who was the last secretary of the late former CEO Roh Hoe-chan, gathered the PD group in the party and drew support from some of the differentiated NL groups (former Vice President Kim Jong-min), overtaking NL Group candidate Bae Jin-kyo in the party election last October. . As a documentary director, Jang joined the Justice Party in October 2019 as a recruitment greeting and formed the core of the Kim Jong-cheol regime along with Ryu. An official from the Justice Party said, “Kim, who has a long political career, was no different from the political mentor of the two female lawmakers.”
Gender equality and gender issues were the core identities they put forward to find a new path out of the’Democratic Party’ controversy. When Rep. Jang rejected the condolences of the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon, who made an extreme choice after controversy about sexual harassment in July of last year, CEO Kim said, “It is certainly possible. The Justice Party should not ignore efforts to make a society safe from sexual violence.”
In politics, the word “crossroads of existence” comes out. The Justice Party, in which 9,000 members of the party were withdrawn from the controversy of the “Democratic Party’s 2nd Company” that ignited during the “motherland crisis” in 2019 and the refusal of Mayor Park’s condolences, has been suffering from severe fiscal difficulties until recently.
A passport figure who knows the circumstances of the Justice Party well said, “The reason that the Justice Party has shown its presence, such as raising the Severe Disaster Punishment Act as a central issue in politics, despite the defeat of the last general election was because of the clarity and novelty of the three members. It became difficult to do,” he said.
I can’t even get to know the guidance system training
On this day, Chief Spokesman Chung said, “I will spare no effort to cut bones to create a gender-equal organizational culture.” However, it was not possible to disclose the future schedule. He only said, “There are quite a few remaining tenures for President Kim, so he has no choice but to hold the party representative by-election according to the party rules.” Inside and outside the Justice Party, there is also a prospect that the NL Group (Incheon Alliance), the largest faction that lost the last party election, will regain power.
The response to the 4·7 re-election by-election has fallen into trouble from the start. The Justice Party was running for the election of the mayor of Seoul, Seoul Metropolitan City Councilman Kwon Soo-jeong, and the Busan mayoral president Kim Young-jin as a candidate for the Busan Mayor’s election. The votes for and against former party members remain, but since they are singular candidates, they are in fact confirmed as candidates. City Councilman Kwon said in the declaration on the 11th that he will become the first mayor of gender equality in Seoul, but as long as he wanted anonymity, the passport official said, “It will be impossible to complete the race.”
There is a possibility that it will lead to the worst situation in which CEO Kim is investigated by an investigative agency. Director Bae said, “As Representative Jang does not want criminal punishment, he will not go through legal proceedings such as a complaint.”
Reporter Song Seung-hwan [email protected]