Prosecution clears ex-lawmaker of rape allegations.

By Kim Se-jeong

Sim Hag-bong

Prosecutors announced Tuesday that they will not indict former Saenuri Party lawmaker Sim Hag-bong on allegations that he raped a woman.

The decision by the Daegu District Prosecutors’ Office has drawn criticism for leniency on the former ruling party member, even though it found Sim offered money to her during an earlier police investigation.

After the scandal emerged in August, Sim left his party amid mounting public criticism, and also resigned from his elected position earlier this month.

The prosecution said Tuesday that they found no suspicion of him, as the woman involved recanted her initial allegation and testified in favor of Sim.

“She is now consistently saying that the relationship was not forced,” a prosecutor said.

Sim was suspected of raping the 48-year-old woman in a Daegu hotel room in July. She told police that he used force to have sex with her, and then gave her 300,000 won in cash. But she changed her story during further questioning, saying there was no coercion and she did not want him to be punished. She and Sim claimed there was a “misunderstanding” and they talked about it.

Prosecutors decided to clear him despite confirming Sim gave her 20 million won a day before she was questioned by police for a second time in late July. “The rape allegation was not established as she repeated that it was not a rape, so we cannot see the money as an attempt to cover up the case,” the prosecutor said.

Also, the prosecution decided not to charge the woman with false accusation. “False accusation means creating a story where none existed. Although she may have exaggerated the situation at the beginning of the police investigation, we don’t see it as false accusation,” he said.

Police also faced criticism for only questioning him for two hours.