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| An Hee-jung, former governor of South Chungcheong Province, speaks as he arrives at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, Monday, for a questioning over rape allegations./Yonhap |
By Kim Se-jeong
Prosecutors questioned former Governor of South Chungcheong Province An Hee-jung for the second time Monday over a series of rape allegations.
Arriving at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office, he denied the allegations and said his sexual relations with the two victims were consensual.
"I thought they (sexual relationships) were based on mutual consent (with the claimed victims)," he told the press before entering the Prosecutors' Office.
He went on to apologize to his supporters and family.
"I will comply with the prosecution during the questioning. Again, I apologize to my supporters, wife and family who love me so much."
On March 5, An's former personal secretary, Kim Ji-eun, claimed that she had been raped by the governor several times since October 2015. The alleged sexual assaults took place when An and Kim were on overseas business trips and in Seoul, Kim claimed. Kim said the most recent incident took place in February while the #MeToo movement was gaining traction here.
An resigned from his governor post immediately after the revelation and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) expelled him.
After the prosecution began an investigation, he turned himself in for questioning, March. 9.
An is facing allegations from two victims.
Following Kim's disclosure, another woman came forward with allegations. A former employee of An's think tank located in Mapo, Seoul, filed a criminal complaint with the prosecution and prosecutors interviewed the second alleged victim, Sunday.
If convicted, he can be jailed for up to a minimum five years. .
The rape allegations have caused the political destruction of An who was until recently a rising star in the DPK.
Many viewed him as the DPK's leading candidate for the 2022 presidential election. In last year's DPK primary, he finished second to Moon Jae-in who was elected president.
The news caught many people by surprise and disappointment and outrage ensued.
A day after Kim's revelation, an angry DPK member went to An's official residence and broke a window with a baseball bat.
On the first day of questioning, angry crowds gathered around him and heaped condemnation on him. Also, Monday, an "anti-An" group gathered outside the prosecutors' office demanding a thorough investigation and punishment.
The conservative Liberty Korea Party (LKP) renewed their accusations against An and the DPK.
"Consensual sex is a hard thing to imagine in a relationship with a boss," Hong Joon-pyo, the LKP's chairman wrote on Facebook. Although Hong didn't mention An's name, it was obvious who was on Hong's mind. "Coercing your junior colleague into sex is by all means wrong and everyone knows it. And when that is done by a man who has his wife at home, it is more serious."
The DPK has been hit by multiple allegations in the sweeping #MeToo movement.
Besides An, Min Byung-doo, an incumbent third-term lawmaker, is also under fire over sexual assault allegations _ he said he would give up his legislative seat.
The #MeToo movement has brought about falls from grace of many prominent male figures in Korea.
Poet Ko Un has been accused of repeated sexual harrassment, as has Lee Yoon-taek, a prominent theater director, among others. Actor Jo Min-ki committed suicide, March 9, in the face of a police investigation. On Saturday, a professor from the Hankuk University of Foreign Studies also took his own life following similar allegations raised by students.
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