Justice minister vows efforts to prevent, expose sexual assault cases
SEOUL, (MILLAT ONLINE)::Justice Minister Park Sang-ki vowed to step up efforts Friday to prevent sexual harassment against female workers at his ministry and all other related offices, appointing the head of a new internal committee to specifically prevent and investigate any sexual assault or harassment cases, Yonhap reported.
The move came after a female public prosecutor, Seo Ji-hyeon, publicly accused a former prosecutor of sexually harassing her in 2010 while then working as a senior director of the justice ministry in charge of public prosecutors.
Seo, currently a district attorney at a regional prosecution office in South Gyeongsang Province, also claims to have faced negative repercussions, including a 2015 transfer to her current post, for raising such allegations internally.
“I cannot but feel sorry for the pain the prosecutor, Seo, must have experienced due to the sexual assault case,” Park told a press conference.
Noting the measures taken so far by his ministry may have seemed inadequate, the justice minister said the ministry was launching a new committee, centered around outside experts, to effectively and sternly deal with sexual assault cases at the ministry and all other related offices, including the prosecution.
“We will work to make sure such cases will never recur by fully supporting the committee’s activities and accepting its recommendations,” he said, announcing Kwon In-sook, head of the Korean Women’s Development Institute, as the leader of the new committee.
Also noting Seo may be facing additional damage from groundless and malicious rumors, the justice minister pledged to prevent such a case. “There can be no criticism or attacks against Seo or degrading of her, and (we) will actively work to prevent any secondary damage,” he said.