Seoul mayor Park Won-soon’s case shows South Korea has a deep sexism problem

Activists say by taking his own life, the top women’s rights advocate who was facing complaint of sexual harassment, had once again silenced the accuser

Park’s case highlights the scale of gender inequality in South Korean politics despite a high-profile #MeToo campaign in the country

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Mourners paying tribute at a memorial altar for Park Won-soon in Seoul. Photo: AP

Published: 6:00am, 11 Jul 2020Updated: 6:00am, 11 Jul 2020

The magnitude of South Korea’s sexism problem has been illustrated by the case of a top politician and women’s rights advocate who was accused of sexual harassment then took his own life, activists say.

Seoul mayor Park Won-soon, a former human rights lawyer, was instrumental in advocating against gender discrimination and in the 1990s won what is widely considered the first sexual harassment case in the conservative society.

But following his suicide, feminist campaigners said he had avoided shame and punishment for allegedly harassing his female secretary, who filed a police complaint against him the day before his death.

The circumstances of Park’s case – despite his liberal background and after a high-profile #MeToo campaign in the country – highlight the scale of gender inequality in South Korean politics, they said on Friday.

Park was the latest in a series of senior figures in the ruling centre-left Democratic party to face accusations of sexual misconduct.

Ahn Hee-jung, a former provincial governor who was runner-up in the 2017 race for the party’s presidential nomination, was convicted of “sexual intercourse by abuse of authority” last year after his assistant accused him of repeatedly raping her.