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Kim Ji-eun (right), the secretary of South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung, appears on an interview on the JTBC cable channel and alleges that she was raped four times by her former boss. (taken from JTBC)
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Ahn Hee-jung had been viewed as a likely presidential candidate for the Democratic Party
There is expected to be major fallout following allegations that Ahn Hee-jung, the governor of South Chungcheong Province and formerly regarded as a likely candidate for the ruling party in the next presidential race, raped his secretary on four occasions over the past eight months. Ahn’s secretary, Kim Ji-eun, said that she believes there were other victims, too, raising the possibility that more women will come forward to tell their stories.
“I want to apologize to all of you,” Ahn wrote in a Facebook post on the evening of Mar. 6. “As of today, I resign from my post as governor and bring all my political activity to an end.”
On Mar. 5, South Korean cable channel JTBC reported allegations made by Kim, who had been Ahn’s secretary, that he had raped her four times and frequently sexually harassed her until recently. Kim claims that Ahn raped her on business trips to Russia in July 2017 and Switzerland in Sept. 2017 that she had accompanied him on. She said that Ahn even raped her on Feb. 25 of this year, when the #MeToo movement to raise awareness about rape culture was well underway.
“Over the past eight months, Ahn raped me when we were out of the public eye, such as on trips overseas and during events in Seoul. Ahn told me he shouldn’t have done that and that he was ashamed of his actions,” Kim added. After handling promotion strategy for Ahn’s presidential campaign last year, she was hired to be his personal assistant in July and was reassigned as secretary for political affairs after the trip to Switzerland. Kim has set up a legal team with the help of the Korean Women Lawyers Association and is planning to file criminal charges against Ahn as early as Mar. 6.
“I did not have a consensual [sexual] relationship with Ahn. We did not have a relationship as equals. I understand that there were other victims [of Ahn]. I want to give them courage,” Kim said during her appearance at the JTBC studio.
On the evening of Mar. 5, the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council held an emergency meeting at which it decided to take steps to expel Ahn from the party and cancel his membership. Democratic Party leader Choo Mi-ae issued an apology to the South Korean public.
“I ask your forgiveness for my foolish behavior,” Ahn said while announcing his plan to resign. “My secretariat was mistaken when it stated that our relationship was consensual. This is all my fault.”
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South Chungcheong Province Governor Ahn Hee-jung
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