hankyoreh

Incheon. Caddies are sometimes vulnerable to sexual harassment by golfers. (Hankyoreh 21 file photo)

A number of high-profile sex crimes have been in the news recently, including two involving a former National Assembly Speaker and an eminent Seoul National University professor. On Nov. 12, news broke about the indictments of a former Prosecutor General and National Medical Center chief. Many experts are now focusing their attention on the phenomenon of members of the “power elite” abusing their authority to commit sex crimes against students and staff.

Recently, a court upheld a prison sentence for a prominent music professor on charges of sexually assaulting four students. Professor “J,” who is also the father of a famous performer, was indicted for sexually assaulting four female students, all aged 18 to 22, during a four-month stint as guest professor at a music college in 2013. The court concluded J had “abused his authority to harass victims who were under his supervision in a teacher-student relationship.”

The description in the indictment paints the typical picture of abusing the clear power imbalance in the one-on-one “apprenticeship” model of education. J’s actions included fondling the breasts of students who had come to the classroom alone for lessons, or placing his hand in their underwear. He also unzipped students’ pants and groped their genital areas.

According to the court’s conclusion, these actions took place on no fewer than 14 occasions in just four months. J, who also used sexually abusive language against the students, argued that he “thought of them as daughters.”

The “daughter” argument was also given by way of explanation when former National Assembly Speaker Park Hee-tae, 76, was accused of sexually harassing a caddy at a golf course.

J said the physical contact “consisted of patting them on the bottom or stroking their back to correct posture and keep the rhythm.”

“These are teaching methods that are accepted around the world,” he continued. “It‘s something that happens when you get into a class.”

“It’s difficult to comprehend how adult students could have accepted touching of their genital areas because they were cowed by the professor‘s authority,” he argued.

The court for the first trial sentenced J to eighteen months in prison and ordered him to complete 80 hours of treatment for sexual abuse. The appeals court upheld the ruling and the sentence.

On Oct. 31, judge Jeong Gye-seon of the Ulsan District Court’s third criminal division agreed it was a clear case of exploiting a power imbalance to commit sexual abuse.

"The victims believed Professor J was an individual with very high status within the school, and someone who could influence their future. Given the nature of apprenticeship education, it is impossible to accept the defendant’s argument,” the court ruled, rejecting J’s claims that as adults, the students could not have been coerced by his authority.

Students alleging sexual harassment in a recent case involving a prominent math professor at Seoul National University (identified by the initial “K”), also said they did not speak out before because of the power imbalance in the professor-student relationship.

A former Prosecutor General, identified by the initial “S,” is under investigation by police for allegedly sexually harassing a female employee at the Gyeonggi Province golf course where he is currently chairman.

“We received a complaint claiming an information desk employee in her twenties was sexually harassed by S, a former Prosecutor General,” explained the sexual assault investigation squad at the Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency.

The employee‘s father claims S visited his daughter in June 2013 at her room in the golf course dormitory. After instructing the showering employee to step out, S forcibly embraced her and kissed her cheek, telling her she was “prettier than my wife” and asking her to be his lover before handing her 50,000 won (US$46) and leaving, the father said. The employee left her job soon after.

In a telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, S denied the allegations, saying that he met the employee along with two colleagues because the alleged victim was planning to quit her job. S claimed that at no time was he alone with the alleged victim, and that he committed no sexual crimes. The employee’s father reported the alleged crime to the police, and S says he will file a counter complaint.

A former National Medical Center chief is also being investigated by prosecutors for indecent acts by force. The former professor is accused of sexual harassment, including repeated fondling, against a female irregular worker in her twenties.

In the case of former National Assembly Speaker and Minister of Justice Park Hee-tae, prosecutors have yet to make a decision on how to proceed. More than a month has passed since the sexual harassment allegations were submitted to them.

Park is being accused of groping and fondling a female caddy in her twenties at a Gangwon Province golf course last September. Police submitted the case to prosecutors later that month with a recommendation to indict. The Wonju branch of the Chuncheon District Prosecutors’ Office said the case “requires supplementary actions” and would be “decided shortly.”

Member of the power elite are acutely conscious of hierarchy and power relations. They also know how power functions. These characteristics are in evidence when they commit sex crimes, experts claim.

“They’ve internalized the misguided idea that it’s okay to do these things once you’ve reached a certain status,” said Lee-Im Hye-gyeong, head of the sexual abuse counseling center for Korean Womenlink.

Choi Ji-na, secretary-general for the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, said the problem “fundamentally has to do with thinking you can treat people of low status any way you want.”

“The social ruling class, and the people who’ve been part of the elite, can be especially insensitive,” Choi said.

Lee Mi-jeong, a researcher at the Korean Women’s Development Institute, said predators “target the kind of people they can commit sex crimes against and not expect any problems.”

“The reason sex crimes happen so frequently at universities is because advising professors have tremendous authority over everything from papers to hiring for the graduate students under them,” Lee added.

By Choi Woo-ri, Jin Myeong-seon, staff reporters

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