The funeral of the mayor of Seoul Park Won-soon, who committed suicide after being accused of sexual harassment, took place Monday despite a petition, signed by half a million people, against this ceremony organized by the city.
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Park Won-soon, a former human rights lawyer, was an iconic figure in the ruling Democratic Party (center left). Since 2011, he has ruled the gigantic capital of South Korea, which has around ten million inhabitants, almost a fifth of the country's population.
His body was discovered Friday morning in the mountains on the outskirts of Seoul, the day after a complaint was filed by his former secretary for the facts of sexual abuse. More than 20,000 people came to pay him a last tribute. During this ceremony, her daughter declared " having felt the joy of father (s) by meeting the citizens one by one ".
Accused of sexual harassment
A petition opposing this ceremony and posted on the Presidency website has collected more than 500,000 signatures. " Should the population attend for five days the funeral of a prominent political official who has committed suicide following an accusation of sexual harassment ," wonders the petition, which asks " what kind of message does this send "
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Park Won-soon is by far the highest political figure in South Korea to be involved in a sexual harassment case. In a South Korean society that has remained deeply patriarchal, the global #MeToo movement, which encourages women to report rape or harassment against them, has brought down dozens of prominent male figures over the past two years, in all fields.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in sent flowers for the ceremony, which was attended by his chief of staff and senior Democratic Party officials. However, neither the interim leader of the Party of the future (conservative opposition) nor that of the centrist party were present. " I decided not to present my tributes, " wrote on his Facebook page Ahn Cheol-Soo, head of the centrist party, saying that "now is the time to have a deep reflection on the behavior of. .. senior officials of this country ".
A hundred people attended the funeral on Monday, their number being limited due to the coronavirus. The mayor's sympathizers wept tears when the family of the deceased entered the town hall carrying his portrait. The suicide of Park Won-soon has put an end to all the prosecutions against him.