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| ▲ Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, currently head of the policy think tank at the minor Rebuilding Korea Party, speaks during his visit to Jogye Temple in Seoul on Sept. 4, 2025. (Pool photo) (Yonhap) |
minor party-sexual misconduct
Minor Rebuilding Korea Party embroiled in sexual misconduct scandal
By Yi Wonju
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Yonhap) -- The minor Rebuilding Korea Party has been embroiled in an intensifying sexual misconduct scandal, prompting an apology by the party's acting leader a day after its spokesperson quit in protest of the leadership's poor handling of the case.
Kim Sun-min, the party's acting leader, made the apology during a press conference Friday at the National Assembly, vowing to "make every effort until full recovery for the victims is achieved."
"We once again extend our sincere apology to the public and the party members who were hurt by this scandal," she said.
The party's formal apology came after the party's spokesperson Kang Mi-jeong stepped down Thursday, criticizing the party's lukewarm response in handling "sexual harassment, sexual assault and bullying" cases involving senior officials of the party.
Kang said she had hoped the party would "set things right" after former Justice Minister Cho Kuk's release from prison, only to be disappointed.
Shortly after Kang's resignation, Cho expressed his condolences to the victims in a Facebook post, and explained he was stripped of the party membership at the time and "had no role in the official disciplinary process."
"As a non-party member, I thought that intervening in the process would undermine the party's system and procedures," he said.
Around 10 party members are believed to be victims involved in the scandal, according to Kang.
In April, a senior official was sued on charges of sexually assaulting his colleague, while another official was accused of sexual harassment and workplace bullying. The party later expelled the former and suspended the latter's membership for one year.
Officials who demanded a more "victim-centered approach" to the case or provided assistance in a workplace bullying case faced retaliation from the party, either being expelled or given a pay cut, according to an adviser to the party's women's committee.
Meanwhile, Choe Kang-wook, head of the ruling Democratic Party's (DP) education and training institute, further fueled the controversy by downplaying the scandal, calling it a "trivial matter."
DP leader Jung Chung-rae ordered the party's ethics committee to conduct an emergency fact-finding probe into Choe.
Both Cho and Choe were granted special pardons by President Lee Jae Myung on the occasion of Liberation Day last month.
Cho, who formerly headed the Rebuilding Korea Party and had served as a justice minister in 2019, was serving a two-year prison term for academic fraud involving his children and unlawful interference with a government inspection. The party has since been in turmoil amid declining public approval.
Cho currently heads the party's policy think tank after his reinstatement.
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