Rep. Sim Hag-bong to quit Saenuri Party over rape claims

Rep. Sim Hag-bong

Rep. Sim Hag-bong of the ruling Saenuri Party will quit the party over allegations of sexual assault, he said Monday.

The lawmaker, who represents Gumi A district in North Gyeongsang Province, issued a statement in which he apologized to his constituents and the public, and saying he did not want to burden his party anymore.

Sim said he would do his best to answer police questions over the sexual assault allegations.

A female insurance planner, aged in her 40s, first told Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency the lawmaker raped her in mid-July. But the woman later changed her words, saying she had not resisted as forcefully as she could have done.

When news over the woman’s claims broke over the weekend, Sim’s name was undisclosed.