By Park Si-soo
A former journalist has voluntarily relinquished his right to run in the April 11 National Assembly elections on a progressive party’s ticket for his alleged involvement in three sexual harassment cases.
Yoon Won-seok, the former president of progressive news website Voice of the People, said in a statement Thursday that his resignation was to prevent his “unsavory past” from carrying a negative impact on the minor opposition Unified Progressive Party (UPP) with the election only 20 days away.
The 42-year-old was the first candidate to quit the race due to a sex crime, dealing asevere blow to the left-wing party. The scandal has fueled public criticism of the party that is already reeling from a cover-up attempt of another sex crime.
Woo Wie-young, UPP spokesman, apologized for his party’s selection of Yoon as candidate. Female pharmacist Kim Mi-hee will inherit the candidacy, the spokesman said. Woo didn’t provide a detailed explanation about how Yoon was selected as UPP candidate.
He is alleged to have committed sexual harassment three times between 2006 and 2007.
In early 2007, Yoon, then head of the Voice of the People, kissed a female reporter of his company under the influence of alcohol, despite her resistance. The crime was made public in the same year, forcing his company to launch an investigation into the case. The investigation found that there were two other female reporters sexually harassed by him in 2006.
Yoon admitted culpability in to the 2007 case, but denied his involvement in the other two. “I’m very ashamed of what I did,” he said.“I will live with a great sense of regret.”
On top of this, the minor opposition party has been denounced for giving a slot to a progressive activist who is suspected of having attempted to cover up a sex crime.
Chung Jin-who, former chairman of a group of progressive-minded teachers, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers’ Union (KTEWU), came fourth on the list of the UPP’s proportional representation candidates.
Whether or not he will win a parliamentary seat under the system will be determined by the number of ballots cast in favor of the party.
In December 2008, a KTEWU member, placed on the police’s wanted list, attempted to rape a woman. Chung tried to cover up the crime in order to ward off public criticism of his organization.