Leading figures pay the price as #Metoo movement gains strength
FEMINISM is a relatively new concept in South Korea, but the #Me Too movement has taken root, with high-profile politicians and entertainment figures toppling as sexual assault victims come forward.
One of the key people in the growing movement is a cheery lawyer named Lee Eun-eui, 44. When she was a worker at Samsung a decade ago, Ms Lee took the tech giant to court after she complained about unwelcome touching by a supervisor. She won – a stunning verdict in 2010.
Ms Lee said she was barely aware of the term “sexual harassment” when she resisted her boss’ advances. “He told me I was not good enough as a female employee, that I didn’t have what it takes,” she said.
She was then ostracised at work, passed over for promotion and given poor evaluations, so she filed the lawsuit against South Korea’s largest company and received $34,000 as part of winning the court case.
Ms Lee decided to change careers and entered law school. In 2015, she set up her own practice, knowing most law firms wouldn’t hire a whistle-blower.
“I am kind of a dangerous woman, so nobody wants me,” she said, laughing.
Ms Lee intended to focus on labour issues, but her Samsung trial and the 2015 book she wrote about the experience quickly made her a magnet for women wanting to file sexual harassment claims. About 70 per cent of her cases focus on harassment and sexual violence, with clients such as a woman who accused K-pop superstar Park Yuchun of rape.
“When I worked at Samsung in international marketing, I thought that was my calling,” she said. “But after I became a lawyer, I realised I was very good at fighting.”
Still, it wasn’t until late January that South Korea’s #Me Too movement took off. A female prosecutor, Seo Ji-hyun, claimed in a televised interview she was sexually harassed by a senior Justice Ministry official. Her interview galvanised public support and forced an investigation.
Since then, dozens of powerful public figures have been swept up in the movement. Governor Ahn Hee-jung, of South Chungcheong province, considered a rising star with presidential aspirations, stepped down last month after he was accused of rape by his secretary, Kim Ji-eun. He claims their sexual encounters were consensual.
In the entertainment industry, filmmaker Kim Ki-duk and Lee Youn-taek, the former artistic director of the National Theatre of Korea, were each charged with rape.
Poet Ko Un, a prominent literary figure in South Korea and viewed as a potential Nobel Prize recipient, was accused of sexual harassment, leading to his poems being removed from textbooks. On March 9, television actor Jo Min-ki committed suicide after multiple accusations against him.
The rapid rise of the #Me Too movement is a dramatic change for South Korea, a society that has held on to strong patriarchal traditions even while becoming a modern economic and technological powerhouse.
Korea ranks just 118 out of 144 countries in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index, while The Economist magazine grades South Korea last in its “glass ceiling index,” to measure the best places to be a working woman.
The growth of the #Me Too movement gives many young women a sense of optimism about entering the workforce.
“I’m hoping it will have an impact on the ordinary working world, not only for victims in the spotlight.” said Sohn Chae-yoon, 26, a pharmacy student in Seoul.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in spoke in support of the #Me Too movement in February. “We should take this opportunity, however embarrassing and painful, to reveal the reality and find a solution,” he said.
Women make up more than 30% of Mr Moon’s Cabinet, the most in South Korean history, and his government has announced measures to impose stricter penalties on sexual misconduct in the workplace.
Lawyer Ms Lee said the movement is allowing women to speak out. “Korean society is not used to hearing the stories from the victim’s point of view,” she said. “But now it’s happening.”
She cautioned that lasting change will be slow, because South Korea’s legal system maintains an archaic approach to sexual violence.
The victim often must prove how strongly she fought back against the assault. Plus, the country’s business culture remains dominated by giant conglomerates that ostracise whistle-blowers such as Ms Lee.
“The #Me Too phenomenon itself is dramatic , but in the courts and legally it’s not as dramatic as we think it is,” she said. “There may be new laws and policies, but the judges’ awareness will not change easily.”
“What’s more important,” Ms Lee added, “is that public opinion is finally changing.”
I am kind of a dangerous woman, so nobody wants me