Independent Lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae Indicted Over Alleged Sexual Harassment of Aide Two Years After Incident

Independent Lawmaker Jang Kyung-tae, who faces allegations of sexually harassing a female aide, has been indicted and sent to trial.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office indicted Lawmaker Jang without detention on charges of quasi-forcible indecency and violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (breach of confidentiality).

Lawmaker Jang is accused of making inappropriate physical contact with a female aide, identified as A, from another lawmaker's office at a restaurant in Yeouido, Seoul, in October 2024.

Denying the allegations, Lawmaker Jang filed a counter-complaint against aide A for false accusation and other charges.

He also requested the convening of a police investigation review committee, but both the review committee and the police concluded that there were grounds for the sexual harassment allegations against Lawmaker Jang.

The police also applied charges of secondary victimization, determining that Lawmaker Jang partially exposed the fact that aide A was a National Assembly aide during a Q&A session with reporters.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office transferred Lawmaker Jang's case to the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office in April of this year due to jurisdictional reasons.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors Office has continued its investigation, including summoning aide A's partner, B, as a reference witness in June.

An interview with Lawmaker Jang was also conducted on the 20th of this month.

This meeting took place during the process of determining whether to indict him, which involved reviewing whether to request supplementary investigations from the police, separate from the suspect interrogation.

The Southern District Prosecutors Office stated, "We reached this decision after thorough supplementary investigation and legal review, which included examining individuals involved in the case based on police investigative records, analyzing footage filmed by an eyewitness, and securing additional call recordings and KakaoTalk chat logs related to the incident."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.