President Moon Jae-in is under fire for sending condolence flowers to the funeral of the father of An Hee-jung, the former South Chungcheong Province governor who is in jail for sexual assault. The criticism came from the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) as well as opposition parties.
“In conclusion, we were insensitive to the victim's situation,” Rep. Lee Tan-hee of the DPK wrote on Facebook, Saturday. “Even though four years have passed since the incident, the victim is still distressed and isolated. Against this backdrop, sending a wreath in the name of the President has the effect of besieging the victim more tightly.”
Earlier, Kang Min-jin, chairman of the Youth Justice Party, blasted Moon. “A condolence wreath bearing the name of Moon Jae-in was placed at the funeral of the former governor's father along with bouquets from senior ruling party and Cheong Wa Dae officials,” she said. “It is an act of treating a perpetrator who is in prison for a sex crime as a former governor and a member of the same party. The incumbent government and the ruling party have yet to repent.”
It is rare for President Moon to face such criticism from his own party. This is surely a public outcry over his insensitivity to the victim's position, although Lee Jae-myung, the presidential candidate of the DPK, apologized for sex crimes by abuse of authority ahead of the presidential election and promised such offenses would stop.
An, once a rising political star until he was convicted of repeatedly raping his former aide in 2019, lost his father last Tuesday. Given that he even failed to be at his father's side because of his imprisonment, he probably suffered a tremendous amount of torment. So Moon could be condoned for sending condolence flowers to the funeral. However, the President should have been more careful, considering that sending a wreath could cause “secondary damage” to the victim who is still said to be in fear. Moon should have offered his condolences in private.