지난 16일(현지 시간) 보도된 미국 CNN 기사의 일부다. CNN은 문 대통령이 안희정 전 충남지사, 오거돈 전 부산시장, 박 전 시장의 피소에 대해 침묵했다고 지적하면서(Moon has stayed silent on the accusations against all three leaders), 국민적 분노를 불러일으켰다고 꼬집었다.
박 전 시장의 성추행 의혹이 불거지자 정치권에선 피해자 2차 가해와 함께 ‘침묵' 논란이 한창이다. 평소 여성 인권을 강조하고 권력형 성범죄 추방을 외치던 여권에서 이번 사건에 소극적인 모습을 보이자, 야당은 “자기 편의 성범죄만 터지면 입을 꾹 닫는다”고 공세에 나섰다.
![고 박원순 전 서울시장의 성추행 의혹과 침묵 논란을 다룬 CNN 기사 [CNN 홈페이지 캡쳐]](https://pds.joins.com/news/component/htmlphoto_mmdata/202007/17/a1e95413-494e-4f5d-8e61-073d9ea9ffe6.jpg)
고 박원순 전 서울시장의 성추행 의혹과 침묵 논란을 다룬 CNN 기사 [CNN 홈페이지 캡쳐]
침묵 논란의 중심에 선 건 문 대통령이다. 문 대통령은 16일 국회 개원 연설에서 남북 관계, 부동산, 경제, 국회 협치 등을 강조했지만 박 전 시장 사건이나 성범죄, 여성 문제에 대해선 언급을 하지 않았다. 전체 연설 중 ‘여성’이란 단어가 단 두 차례 등장했는데, “21대 국회는 역대 가장 많은 ‘여성’의원이 선출됐다” “헌정사상 첫 ‘여성’ 부의장이 되신 김상희 부의장님”이라는 부분이었다.
문재인 정부의 탄생 배경에 2030 여성들의 압도적 지지가 있었다는 점에서, 문 대통령의 침묵은 야권의 공격 소재가 되고 있다. 주호영 통합당 원내대표는 16일 “잇따른 민주당 성범죄 사건에 대해 대통령 언급이 없다”며 “국민 앞에 사과하고 책임 있는 조처를 할 계획은 없느냐”고 했다. 정의당 조혜민 대변인도 “성범죄와 피해자에 대한 2차 가해를 대통령이 외면하고 있는 것인지 묻지 않을 수 없다”고 비판했다.
남인순 더불어민주당 의원이 11일 서울 종로구 서울대병원 장례식장에 마련된 박원순 서울시장의 빈소로 들어가고 있다. 임현동 기자
여성 운동가 출신의 민주당 의원들도 비슷한 비판을 받고 있다. 여성민우회 대표를 지낸 민주당 김상희 부의장은 10일 박 전 시장에 대해 “한평생 인권과 민주주의를 위해 헌신하신 삶을 추모한다”고만 했을 뿐 성폭력에 대해선 침묵했다. 결국 닷새 뒤에야 민주당 여성 의원들과 “의혹에 대해 진상조사를 해야 한다”는 입장문에 이름을 올렸다.
민주당 젠더폭력TF 위원장인 남인순 의원도 박 전 시장 의혹에 함구하다가 15일 “반복된 사건에 무거운 책임감을 느낀다”고 뒤늦게 입장을 냈다. 하지만 이 발언에서도 피해자를 ‘피해 호소인’으로 표현해 도마 위에 올랐다.
이정옥 여성가족부 장관이 17일 오후 서울 종로구 정부서울청사에서 열린 '여성폭력방지위원회 긴급회의'에 참석하고 있다. 뉴스1
2018년 미투(me tooㆍ나도 당했다) 운동이 본격 시작됐을 때 “피해자들의 편에 서겠다”고 했던 여성가족부도 박 전 시장 사건에 대해 “현재로선 입장을 표명할 게 없다” “검토해보겠다”며 소극적 태도를 취했다. 비판이 일자 14일에야 “고소인에 대한 2차 가해가 중단돼야 한다”는 의견을 냈다. 이에 통합당 청년 문제 연구모임인 ‘요즘것들연구소’에선 “여가부가 친문 여성만 보호하고 비문 여성은 방치한다”는 성명을 냈다.
불똥은 검찰에도 옮겨붙었다. 8년 만의 성추행 폭로로 국내 미투(me too) 운동을 촉발한 서지현 검사는 이번 사건에 대해선 입장을 내지 않다가 공황 장애를 고백하며 SNS를 접었다. 임은정 울산지검 부장검사도 “야당 문제는 비판하다가 여당 문제엔 침묵하느냐”는 일각의 비판에 “말을 아끼는 점을 양해해 달라”는 해명을 올렸다.
조수진 통합당 의원은 “겉으로만 여성 친화, 인권을 내세운 여당의 실체가 뻔뻔한 침묵으로 드러냈다”며 “특히 여성 운동 전력으로 국회에 입성한 민주당 의원들의 침묵이 소름 돋을 정도”라고 비판했다. 같은 당 김미애 의원도 “2차 가해도 문제지만, 정부ㆍ여당 인사들의 의도적인 침묵도 피해자 입장에선 또 다른 가해가 될 수 있다”고 지적했다.
손국희 기자 9key@joongang.co.kr
The woman who accused Seoul's mayor of sexual harassment says the city government told her he wasn't "that kind of person" when she made her complaint, according to two non-profit organizations working with her.
Park Won-soon, 64, died in an apparent suicide last week shortly after the sexual harassment claims were filed with police, meaning that the victim's claims won't be criminally investigated.
But the accusations of Park's former secretary have sparked a firestorm among women's rights groups in South Korea, and raised questions over how seriously sexual harassment is really taken by President Moon Jae-in, who campaigned on the promise of becoming a "feminist president."
Park
is now the third top leader associated with Moon's Democratic Party to
be accused of sexual harassment or assault in recent years. As the Seoul
City Government launches an internal investigation into Park's alleged
misconduct, there are calls for both the party -- and the government --
to do more to support victims of sex crimes.
Four years of alleged harassment Like Moon, Park described himself as a feminist.
As Seoul's mayor -- a role that made him the second-most powerful official in South Korea -- he implemented welfare policies aimed at helping women and was a vocal supporter of the #MeToo movement. A former human rights lawyer, in the 1990s Park represented the victim in one of South Korea's first successful sexual harassment convictions. In the 1980s, he was part of the team of lawyers who represented one of the first women to bring charges of sexual assault against authorities.
So for many in Seoul, last week's allegations came as a shock.
In a press conference Monday, the alleged victim's lawyer, Kim Jae-ryon, claimed Park had sent pictures of himself in his underwear to his secretary, as well as obscene, late-night messages over the encrypted app Telegram. On one occasion, when he saw a bruise on her knee, he pretended to blow air on it to ease the pain but allegedly touched her knee with his lips, Kim said.
The four years of alleged harassment began when the woman was hired as Park's secretary and continued after she had moved to another department, said Kim. In a letter written by the accuser, and read at Monday's press conference, the alleged victim said she "should have screamed the first time it happened" and she regrets not coming forward earlier.
CNN has reached out to the accuser through her lawyer. The lawyer did not wish to comment beyond what she said at the press conference. Park did not comment on the allegations before his death.
Attempts to speak out
Park's former secretary did try to speak up earlier, but was discouraged, women's rights groups said.
The former secretary claims she asked people at the Seoul City Government for help, but her complaints were brushed off as the mayor making simple mistakes. She was also told that her duty as secretary was to help the mayor emotionally, so she felt as if she couldn't speak out, according to conversations between the woman and non-profit Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center. CNN reached out to the Seoul City Government for comment.
Even after the woman told police, women's rights groups allege that due process wasn't followed.
The alleged victim filed her criminal complaint of sexual harassment on July 8 and finished giving her statement in the early hours of July 9, according to lawyer Kim. Park was reported missing on the evening of July 9.
Under standard police procedure, a suspect is informed of accusations against them once they are questioned by police. But Lee Mi-kyoung, the head of Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, who is representing the alleged victim, claims Park was tipped off about the complaint, and was able to get rid of evidence before an investigation could begin, although she did not specify who tipped him off.
"Who could report a sexual crime and trust the government's system in this situation?" she said.
Police denied tipping off the Seoul City Government, but said they had reported the case to Blue House -- the South Korean presidential office -- as it was about a high profile person.
In a statement Monday, Blue House spokesman Kang Min-seok said that claims that the Blue House had tipped off Park about the legal complaint were false and urged the public to stop targeting the alleged victim online.
Ko Mi-kyoung, the head of non profit Women's Hotline, which is representing the alleged victim, wants the government to announce what actions it is taking in response to the allegations.
"When a victim speaks, the nation must try to uncover the truth so the victim can recover their human rights and the offender can be punished," she said.
On Wednesday, Seoul City Government seemed to hear those calls, and announced it would form an investigation team with external experts into the accusations against Park.
The accusers' representatives don't want that to be the end of it.
Democratic Party and sex scandals
For the past few years, the country has faced a reckoning against its deeply patriarchal culture. Women have pushed back against discrimination in the workplace, sexual violence and harassment, and unreasonable beauty standards. The country continues to rank poorly globally for female representation in government and wage equality.
Moon promised to change that. In 2017, he vowed to "become a feminist president."
But the following year, former governor, one-time presidential contender and Democratic Party member Ahn Hee-jung was accused of raping and assaulting his former secretary. He was initially acquitted of the charges, but in 2019 was jailed for three-and-a-half years for rape and assault.
Earlier this year, Oh Keo-don, the mayor of South Korea's second-largest city, Busan resigned and apologized for sexually harassing an employee at his office. In June, a Busan court denied an arrest warrant for Oh, saying the charges were serious but it didn't deem detention necessary or justified, according to a report from state news agency Yonhap. Oh, who is still under investigation, admitted the actions but claimed they were not intentional, according to a report from local media KBS.
Oh, too, was a Democratic Party member.
Moon has stayed silent on the accusations against all three leaders. But he has managed to anger the public further.
Last week, Moon sent a wreath with his name on it to Ahn's mother's funeral. When asked why he did that, a Blue House official said it was about the funeral, not about Ahn as an individual, local media SBS reported.
And on Monday the public purse paid for a livestreamed funeral for Park, despite more than 500,000 people signing a petition opposing the 211-million-won ($176,000) expenditure, due to the allegations against Park.
The latest accusations against Park are bad press for the party, and could be a problem at next year's mayoral reelections to find replacements for both Park and Oh.
Conservative parties have also faced sexual harassment complaints. In 2015, former National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae was given a suspended sentence of six months in prison for sexually harassing a female caddie.
In 2013, disgraced former President Park Geun-hye apologized after her former aide Yoon Chang-jung was accused of making inappropriate advances toward a female student hired as a guide for Park's first official visit to the United States. At the time, Yoon denied the allegations although he apologized to Park for the trouble he caused.
But the issues go beyond politics, with some frustrated by what they see as an attempt by politicians to brush the allegations against leaders under the carpet, despite a national reckoning in recent years against a misogynist culture.
Calls to do more
Women's rights activists say that both the Democratic Party -- and Moon's government -- need to do better.
On Tuesday, a statement signed by 61 women's groups with a total of five million members offered solidarity and support for the alleged victim.
"We cannot ignore continued sexual harassment crimes by leadership (of the ruling party) anymore," the statement said. "The politicians should establish responsible measures to prevent similar incidents from recurring and make a solemn promise to the public."
A citizen complaint posted on the Blue House website labels the Democratic Party a "crime group," and another demands an apology from both Moon and his party.
CNN has reached out to the Democratic Party for comment. On Monday, the leader of the party, Lee Hae-chan, expressed his sympathy to Park's alleged victim in a message distributed by party spokesman Kang Hoon-sik.
"I apologize for the current situation we're faced with," Lee said. "The party will do its best to prevent this from happening again in the future."
But Jung Seul-ah, an activist from non-profit Korean Womenlink, said it was important to not only focus on one political group. Instead, she said, there was a need to be critical of what was going on in workplaces all over the nation.
"This case should not stop by punishing one person -- we must think of a way to change this culture including how colleagues should react when they meet someone who experienced harassment. Just because you don't see a problem before your eyes doesn't mean there is no issue."
She said that although the government kept issuing policies and solutions to address sexual harassment, those policies still needed to be implemented. "Without them being implemented, no change will come," she said.
"Every time I think Korea is moving forward and changing, I encounter cases like this and feel that we're moving backwards again," she said. "I wonder if conditions for women at work are getting better, or if conditions for accusers are getting better."
CNN's Gawon Bae contributed reporting from Seoul.
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