A South Korean court sentenced a lawmaker to six months in jail, suspended for one year, on Friday for sexually harassing a female reporter.
Rep. Choi Yeon-hee, former secretary general of the main opposition Grand National Party (GNP), was accused of grabbing the breasts of a reporter from the daily DongA Ilbo during a drinking party on Feb. 24.
"Compared to normal harassment cases, this incident caused bigger damage to its victim and thus required a sincere effort by the accused to console the victim, but he failed to make such efforts through compensation or in other ways," said Whang Hyun-zoo, presiding judge of the Seoul Central District Court.
The woman received no little mental suffering after the shocking incident involving the three-term lawmaker drew wide media coverage, Whang added.
Choi, 61, quit the GNP after he came under public criticism for the inappropriate act.
The National Assembly passed a nonbinding resolution calling for the resignation of the lawmaker several months later, but Choi did not accept the demand, saying he would follow a legal judgement.
In South Korean law, legislators are stripped of their seats if they are sentenced to jail for a criminal offense.
When asked if he will appeal the court decision, Choi said he will think about it later.
Women's rights activists immediately welcomed the ruling.
"The court decision will serve as an opportunity to change the court's practice of underestimating the seriousness of sexual harassment and society's perception about the crime and to draw stern punishment for future sex crimes," a spokesman for the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center said in a news conference, joined by seven other women's rights groups. "We also expect the decision will contribute to helping women fairly exercise their rights of sexual self-decision."
Seoul, Nov. 10 (Yonhap News)
Lawmaker receives suspended jail sentence for sexual harassment |
