Exclusive: Public Official Sexually Assaults Colleague at Her Home; Victim Forced to Resign

[Anchor]

A female employee working under an indefinite contract at the Korea Forest Service has been sexually assaulted by a male colleague who is a public official. Although the perpetrator admitted to the assault in court, it was the victim who ultimately lost her job.

Reporter Kim Minjun has this exclusive report.

[Reporter]

A, a woman in her 20s who worked as an indefinite contract employee at a regional forest service office in the Gyeongbuk region, was sexually assaulted by an 8th-grade official, B, following a company dinner in July of last year.

B, who offered to escort a heavily intoxicated A home, followed her into her apartment.

[A: I remember feeling someone touching my body while I was lying down at home.]

Although B reportedly denied the allegations during the initial investigation, claiming he only stayed for about 15 minutes and kept his distance before falling asleep, his DNA was found on A's underwear. He was subsequently indicted on charges of quasi-forcible indecency.

In court, B admitted to the charges from the first trial, expressing remorse. The prosecution has demanded a prison sentence of one year and six months, with the first-instance verdict scheduled for next month.

Immediately after the incident, the Korea Forest Service held a sexual harassment grievance committee and separated the two individuals. However, the expected measures, such as suspension from duty or disciplinary action, were not taken.

B was transferred to a national forest management office under the same regional forest service, leaving A to live in fear.

Because their duties frequently overlapped, she had to change her work schedule to avoid running into him.

[A: Other staff members were completely unaware of the incident, and I had to go to the office where the perpetrator was stationed for work.]

A disciplinary committee was only held on July 6, nearly a year after the incident, and even then, no conclusion was reached.

The Korea Forest Service stated that it would wait for the first-instance verdict next month before making a decision.

A's repeated requests for B to be suspended from duty were consistently ignored.

[Korea Forest Service Official: When it comes to disciplinary action, we cannot just consider the victim; we also have to consider the other party (the suspect).]

A left her job in early April.

[A: If he appeals and it goes to a second trial, they would probably say they need to wait for the second-instance result as well.]

[Lee Dong-hoon/Attorney: It is highly unusual to remain passive. It is standard practice to first suspend the individual from duty and then impose further disciplinary action based on the trial results.]

Following the start of SBS's coverage, the Korea Forest Service announced that it had suspended B from duty as of July 16.

(Video reporting: Lee Sang-hak | Video editing: Lee Hong-myeong | Graphics: Park Cheon-ung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.