Park Yoochun Completes Payment Of Damages To Woman Who Accused Him Of Sexual Assault; Her Lawyer Releases Statement

Park Yoochun has now completed the payment of damages to the second woman who accused him of sexual assault (hereafter referred to as “A”).

In 2016, A was one of four women who accused Park Yoochun of sexual assault (he was later cleared of suspicion on all four counts). At the time, Park Yoochun filed a criminal complaint against A for alleged defamation and false accusations. A received a ruling of not guilty in both her trials and the supreme court denied the prosecution’s request for an appeal.

A filed a criminal complaint against Park Yoochun in 2018 for compensation of 100 million won (approximately $90,000). The court ordered Park Yoochun and A to settle the damages suit through a mandatory mediation. In July 2019, the Seoul Court Mediation Center made the decision that Park Yoochun had to pay A 50 million won (approximately $45,000) in damages. A detention judgment trial was held in April 2020 after Park Yoochun failed to pay the compensation, at which the court ruled that Park Yoochun would not be punished.

On February 3, it was announced by A’s lawyer Lee Eun Ui that Park Yoochun has now paid 56 million won (approximately $50,000) in damages to A, which includes delay interest. The lawyer’s full statement is as follows:

After victim A received harm by being sexually assaulted by Park Yoochun and she filed a criminal complaint, she was accused of making false accusations and suffered for a long time. The prosecution at the time said that the victim revealing the harm she received was false accusation and defamation, but the court pronounced that victim A, who had suddenly become the accused, was not guilty. She was not even given the chance to seek a judgement from the court over the harm she received from the sexual assault as the prosecution did not make an indictment. However, after watching the examination of the witnesses including many people involved, such as victim A and Park Yoochun, all the jurors gave the verdict that victim A was not guilty. In the first, second, and third trials, which looked at this verdict and the investigation record, the court also recognized the injust treatment of victim A.

It was good that victim A was no longer accused but the suffering she experienced in the meantime could not be expressed in words. The prosecution at the time filed an unreasonable indictment regarding victim A and requested a pretrial detention warrant. She anxiously experienced an investigation as the accused instead of as a victim, and on the day of the pretrial detention warrant request, the victim had to be confined in a detention center for the first time in her life, from the morning until close to midnight when it was decided that the pretrial detention warrant was rejected. She then stood trial while not being in detention, but during that time the victim had to live as the accused instead of the victim. From the date of preparatory proceedings to the date of the trial, the courtroom was always full of people. On top of the injustice and anxiety of victim A standing trial as the accused, victim A had to experience another kind of anxiety and pressure in the courtroom that was packed with dozens of Park Yoochun’s fans. If there had not been many activists from women’s organizations in the courtroom, it would have been very difficult for the victim and her lawyer to endure those days. However, on those anxious days, the victim’s personal information was spread online and she experienced a secondary offense as she was defamed and insulted. And even now, the victim still experiences such secondary harm.

For that reason, victim A filed a civil suit against Park Yoochun. Although the court did not have the opportunity to judge the harm received by victim A as a crime, the court at least recognized it as illegal according to the Civil Procedure Act. In addition, Park Yoochun’s side also accepted this. After this, Park Yoochun could not make the payment due to various circumstances, but fortunately he paid in full, including interest, in two parts on December 31, 2020 and January 31, 2021.

The reason I’m writing this press release is that there are reporters individually making inquiries to my office, while it is also to inform the people who continue to commit secondary offenses against victim A even now. It’s true that Park Yoochun committed a great wrongdoing toward victim A in the past, but he has apologized for this and paid damages too. The wrongdoing that Park Yoochun committed and the suffering that victim A experienced do not disappear because of the apology or the payment of damages. However, victim A has overcome the pain and is currently living as a sincere and healthy young person, as a cultural artist. What victim A hopes for is that she can truly be free of this incident. There were many people who called themselves Park Yoochun’s fans and committed secondary offenses, and some of them are continuing such words and actions. However, Park Yoochun has said he admits his wrongdoing and is reflecting, and he has even paid damages. Therefore, I hope that if they are really his fans, they will look back on their past wrongdoings and at least now stop such actions. A true fan love involves not distorting the wrongdoings that a star commits, but rather giving support so that they can not repeat such wrongdoings and can go forward. When that happens, the victim can also finally become completely free of this incident and return to their life in full.

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