ED Jail sentence for ex-mayor

Time to awaken to seriousness of sex crimes by those in power

The Busan District Court sentenced former Busan Mayor Oh Keo-don to three years in prison Tuesday for sexually assaulting two city employees. The court also ordered Oh to undergo 40 hours of sexual violence rehabilitation and banned him from working at child welfare organizations or facilities for the disabled for five years.

Oh resigned as the mayor of the nation's second-largest city in April 2020 after admitting he had “unnecessary physical contact” with a female city employee. Separately, Oh was accused of making unwanted sexual contact with another civil servant in 2018. The court acknowledged that Oh's victim suffered post-traumatic stress disorder resulting from the sexual harassment and that this constituted injury caused by his actions. “This is a workplace sexual assault case in which the accused abused his superior position to commit the crime,” the court said.

His lawyers pleaded for leniency, saying the defendant has been suffering from dementia and has cognitive problems. But the court rejected such claims, stating it was clear that the former mayor abused his status and that his actions were not accidental or one-off. The ruling is significant, given that the court acknowledged the victim's psychological suffering as an injury. The ruling must also serve as a public acknowledgement of the seriousness of sex crimes by those in power.

The victims reportedly expressed intentions to appeal the sentence, saying the court considerably reduced Oh's prison sentence to three years in consideration of his advanced age and lack of a prior criminal record. Prosecutors had demanded a seven-year prison sentence. Oh could face a heavier sentence in the appeals court, considering the devastating impact his shameful sex crime wrought on our society. That said, it will be better for him to own up to making a mistake, repent and turn over a new leaf rather than adhere to a lame excuse. That is the least he can do to seek forgiveness from the people of Busan.