Kwon In-sook
Kwon In-sook | |
|---|---|
| 권인숙 | |
| Member of the National Assembly | |
| Assumed office 30 May 2020 | |
| Constituency | Proportional representation |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 28 August 1964 Gangreung, South Korea |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Alma mater | Seoul National University Rutgers University Clark University |
Kwon In-sook (also Kwŏn Insuk or Insook; born 1964) is a former South Korean labor organizer who inspired women in South Korea to form the Korean Women's Associations United (KWAU).[1] Kwon is the first woman to bring charges of sexual assault against the South Korean government.[2] She was also considered by historian Namhee Lee to be "an emblematic figure of South Korea in the 1980s; she embodied the passion, the ideals, and the conflicting aspirations of the 1980s democratization movement."[3] Kwon later became a feminist scholar in South Korea.[3]
Biography
As a middle school student, Kwon recalls feeling "duped" by the Korean government in power.[4] She had been involved with student movements at the time, and said that "It was hard to swallow the betrayal and anger against adults to had fed lies to the young."[4] Kwon went on to become a student activist in the democratic movement while in college.[5]
Later, as a
During press coverage of the case, the South Korean government micromanaged how the press would report what happened to Kwon, including guidelines that changed the tone of the case and which also cast Kwon as a liar and possibly a communist.[11] The initial reporting of the story was a single line at the bottom of the social page in Korea Daily.[3] A spokesman for the government called her allegations of sexual assault a "routine tactic used by student radicals."[10] Eventually the police did admit that "she had been sexually molested during interrogation."[12]
Kwon was eventually imprisoned for eighteen months for falsifying identification documents.[13] Criminal charges against Mun were dropped because while "the prosecution office said its investigation into Kwon's complaint found some truth" there was still not enough evidence for them to proceed with the trial.[14] In addition, the prosecution claimed that while she had been beaten on the breasts while nude, the government did not "consider these acts sexual abuse."[14] Kwon was released from prison in 1987, along with hundreds of other political prisoners in Korea.[12] Mun was eventually assessed $45,000 in civil penalties after "extensive legal maneuvering."[15] Kwon's case is considered an illustration of cover-ups regarding political neutrality of the South Korean judicial system in the mid-1980s.[7]
Kwon has gone on to become a feminist scholar whose work analyzes patriarchal constructs of masculinity in militarized areas and how these concepts affect women, children and civilians.[16]
Legacy
The news that Kwon had sued regarding her sexual abuse would "rock Korean society for months. It was shocking that a young woman would go public with an accusation that was more likely to damage her own reputation than that of the accused."[3] Traditionally, sexual and physical abuse was considered an "unspeakable experience," but Kwon's public testimony helped reframe the issue of sexual abuse in South Korea by "recasting her experience from the 'shame of the victim' to the 'crime of the perpetrator."[5] The acts of sexual abuse as described by Kwon led to the creation of the KWAU which would influence Korean politics in the 1990s.[1]
References
- ^ ISBN 0415184908.
- ISBN 9781842777428.
- ^ ISBN 9780801445668.
- ^ ISBN 978-0415770576.
- ^ ISBN 9780203888810.
- ISBN 0765601400.
- ^ ISBN 0674416058.
- ^ ISBN 0929692047.
- ^ a b c "Police Use Tear Gas to Bar Korean Rally". Cedar Rapids Gazette. 20 July 1986. Retrieved 2 November 2015 – via Newspaper Source.
- ^ a b "Thousands of Police Block Seoul Rally". Burlington Hawk Eye. 20 July 1986. Retrieved 2 November 2015 – via Newspaper Archive.
- ISBN 0929692020.
- ^ a b "South Korea Frees 357 More Political Detainees". Aiken Standard. 8 July 1987. Retrieved 2 November 2015 – via Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Kwon In-Suk, Korean Sexual Abuse Victim, Sentenced to 18 Months' Imprisonment". UCA News. 10 December 1986. Retrieved 1 November 2015.
- ^ a b "Former ROK Police officer Cleared In Harassment Case". Pacific Stars and Stripes. 23 August 1986. Retrieved 2 November 2015 – via Newspaper Archive.
- ISBN 0674416058.
- S2CID 143730492. Retrieved 2 November 2015.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
