| Choi Young-mi |
Famous poet Choi Young-mi claimed Tuesday she had been sexually harassed by a famous older male poet, spreading the #MeToo movement into the literary community.
Appearing on JTBC News, a prime time news program, she said, "He repeatedly harassed female writers _ I was a victim and witnessed many other women being harassed. There are so many victims across Korea."
Social media outlets were full of suspicions that the offender might be poet Ko Un, a renowned figure often put forward for the Nobel Prize in literature.
Following 2016, it is the second time the literary community has been rattled by sexual harassment allegations.
Choi didn't say how she was harassed during the interview but provided a few details in her recent poem, "Monster," published last December in a literary magazine.
"I was told not to sit next to En. Poet K warned me so when I was a young poet. ‘En always gropes when he sees a young woman.'"
Choi detailed what she had to suffer as a consequence of speaking up against the offender.
"If a female poet rejects sexual misconduct by male colleagues, they really get revenge," Choi said. "They are usually in a powerful position, like an editor at a major publisher or a literary magazine. What they do is to stop asking her for works or reviewing them. They completely ignore her and that begins destroying her career."
Choi's poem was written before the #MeToo movement began, but the movement made her an instant celebrity.
Asked what motivated her to write the poem, she answered: "I was asked to write a poem about feminism by a prominent literary magazine. As a female writer, I was compelled to touch upon that issue which has long infested Korean society."
Choi said she knew many other offenders and victims in the literary community in Korea. "Especially if you're a single woman writer, it's a sure thing that you fall victim to sexual harassment."
In 2016, a female editor accused novelist Park Bum-shin of sexual harassment, on social media and others followed suit. But, the issue didn't make it to news headlines because the country was engulfed by the corruption scandal involving former President Park Geun-hye and Choi Soon-sil.
The alleged offender responded to Choi's allegations with an apology. "I didn't mean to offend her. But time has changed and if she takes it that way, I am sorry about that."
Triggered by a public prosecutor's revelation last month, the #MeToo movement is spreading fast. Other public prosecutors have come forward as have female doctors, lawmakers, flight attendants and university students among others.