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| Protestors march at Gwanghwamun Square, central Seoul, Saturday, denouncing a court's decision to acquit An Hee-jung, former governor of South Chungcheong Province, of rape charges. / Korea Times photo by Park Ji-won |
By Lee Suh-yoon
Around 20,000 people rallied in downtown Seoul, Saturday, to protest a court's recent decision to acquit former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung of sexually assaulting and harassing his former secretary.
The public anger over the ruling in favor of the fallen political star in a high-profile #MeToo case signals a critical juncture in the months-long movement. The protest organizer expected only up to 2,000 participants.
The crowd, mostly dressed in black and of varying age groups, chanted slogans such as "A judiciary that protects sex offenders is an accomplice," while holding placards stating, "No country for women" and "We, the survivors, are all Kim Ji-eun" (the alleged victim in An's case).
"What can be done about a judiciary that only believes and repeats the perpetrator's words?" Kim Hye-jung, vice director at the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center (KSVRC), shouted at a defiant crowd in front of Seoul Museum of History. "The court effectively took in every piece of evidence from the perpetrator's side as a sign the victim somehow said 'yes' (to sexual intercourse)."
A considerable number of men also joined the rally. Jung, 31, a male participant and illustrator, said he was "confounded" by the verdict.
"I don't see how the court could rule against the victim. The accused even admitted to the crime first before he changed his testimony," he said.
Another male participant, Ha Myoung-dong, 55, an assistant service worker for the disabled, said he came because he believes the #MeToo movement is a fight for men's rights, too.
"The patriarchal rape culture does not just oppress women; it also prevents men from leading dignified human lives," he said. "Men are not taught how to form genuine human relationships in a patriarchal culture. They are just told to toughen up and be unresponsive to others' feelings of joy and pain."
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| A protestor holds up a sign of a handcuffed An with the words "guilty" scribbled across his forehead. / Korea Times photo by Park Ji-won |
When Kim Ji-eun disclosed the sexual offenses by An in March, he first admitted to the crime on Facebook saying, "My office's statement it was a consensual sexual relationship was wrong. This is all my fault." However, he changed his statement after an investigation started, saying they had consensual sex.
The Seoul Western District Court ruled last Tuesday there was "insufficient evidence" that the accused used his position of authority to coerce the victim into having unwanted sex, saying the incident did not involve "the degree of physical force that makes it impossible for the victim to resist."
The court also said it could not believe the victim's testimony because of her "behavior" a few hours after the alleged rape, as she continued taking care of An as usual, searching for a restaurant which he liked and going to a wine bar with him.
Kwon-Kim Hyun-young, a women's rights activist, strongly criticized the court's reasoning.
"This is like the judiciary telling all those countless employees who undergo gapjil (bullying by a superior) at work: 'Since you continue to go to work, you are the one who basically wanted this gapjil,'" she said at the rally. "The victim was an employee, a secretary. No matter what the superior did to her, she had to keep working so as not to get fired."
In a letter read out to the protesters through her lawyer, Kim Ji-eun also reiterated this point.
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| A female protester's sign reads: "Why is the victim called a 'flower snake' (seductress) or 'dirty rag' (slut)?" / Korea Times photo by Park Ji-won |
"Do I have to kill myself to be recognized as a true #MeToo victim?" Kim's letter read. "I was physically and sexually assaulted by An that day; I did everything in my power to show I did not want it to happen; I could not run away because I knew that I would be fired."
Kim also denounced the court proceedings for not questioning An's testimony.
"Dear judges: Did you ask An why he said sorry to me; why he first wrote on Facebook it was not a consensual relationship; and why he destroyed his phone before the prosecutors got to him? Why did you not question the perpetrator?" Kim said in the letter.
The protesters also said they were frustrated at the court's failure to recognize the sexual intercourse between the employer and the employee as a rape only because there was no physical coercion or verbal threats.
Kim Yong-hua, professor of law and women's studies at Sookmyung Women's University Law School, said the country is far from implementing anything like a 'yes means yes' or 'no means no' rule to recognize rape in a wider array of circumstances. He also added that the current legal system does not take into account the victim's position.
"With their right to a livelihood at stake, are victims really in a situation to say no?" Kim told The Korea Times recently over the phone. "Society says the best course of action is to say no and fight back, but such responses are only possible in an equal relationship."
"A women's no is interpreted as yes in this culture," Kim said. "The judiciary needs to be more gender-sensitive if the current legal system continues to fail victims."
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| In a symbolic performance of anger, participants hold up torches in front of Seoul Museum of History in Seoul, Saturday. / Courtesy of #MeToo rally organizers |
Yang Sun-hwa, 35, a publishing company editor, was seen holding up a sign that read "A Republic of Legal Rape."
"Rape culture is not a problem for just a small number of men here, it could happen at any workplace," said Yang. "The ruling completely avoids the fact that sexual violence frequently occurs in hierarchical relationships – a defining characteristic of the male-centered culture here."
Many hope the higher court – where there has been more hopeful precedents – will overturn the district court's verdict.
