SEOUL: A former South Korean presidential contender was indicted Wednesday on charges of raping his aide multiple times in the highest-profile case of the country’s growing #MeToo movement.

Ahn Hee-jung — who was widely seen as a strong contender to replace President Moon Jae-in when his term ends in 2022 — was formally charged with rape and sexual harassment by abuse of power, a spokesman at the Seoul Western District Prosecutors’ Office said.

The spokesman said Ahn’s first hearing is expected next month.

Prosecutors opened an investigation into Ahn after his aide said in a television interview that he had raped her four times since she was hired last June.

Fighting back tears, Kim Ji-eun, who was Ahn’s personal assistant before becoming an aide in civil affairs, said last month that she had been unable to reject her boss in the rigid hierarchy of her office.

The 54-year-old politician has since stepped down from his post as the governor of South Chungcheong province and issued a formal apology but has claimed the sex was “consensual”.

But detailed accounts from the victim as well as testimonies from witnesses provided evidence of Ahn’s crimes, an official at the prosecutors’ office told Yonhap news agency.

A second woman had come forward shortly after Kim’s interview but prosecutors said her case will be excluded due to lack of evidence.

Ahn will not be physically detained as the court has denied the prosecutors’ demand for an arrest warrant.

It has been an astonishing fall from grace for Ahn, who enjoyed huge popularity among young, liberal voters thanks to his wholesome image and good looks.

Ahn came second to Moon in the contest for the ruling Democratic Party’s presidential nomination last year and was seen as a favourite for the next elections.

Ahn threw his support behind the #MeToo campaign against abuse of women in a public speech made just hours before Kim appeared on live TV to talk about the sex abuse she allegedly suffered at his hands.

Victims of sex abuse in patriarchal South Korea are reluctant to come forward due to fears of public shaming.

But Seo Ji-Hyeon, a prosecutor, in January made the rare move of appearing on live TV to talk about sex abuse by her superior.

Her interview opened a floodgate of similar revelations by women who accused figures including politicians, actors and film directors. </s> K-pop star Jung Joon-young was arrested Thursday over allegations that he shared sexually explicit videos of women filmed without their knowledge or consent, South Korean police said.

The arrest warrant was issued hours after he appeared at a court hearing during which he apologized to the victims for his actions.

Jung, 30, who was first questioned by police last week, delivered a statement to the press outside the court, admitting responsibility for the charges.

“I am truly sorry. I admit to all charges against me. I will not challenge the charges brought by the investigative agency, and I will humbly accept the court’s decision,” he said.

“I bow my head in apology to the women who were victimized by my actions,” he added.

Following the hearing, he was escorted in handcuffs to a central Seoul police station, where he remains in custody.

Jung is accused of being part of an online group chat that shared sexually explicit videos of women without their knowledge or consent.

Other alleged members of the group include K-Pop idol and Big Bang star Seungri and rock band F.T. Island member Choi Jong-hoon. Seungri is also being investigated on suspicion of violating the country’s prostitution laws.

If found guilty, the men accused could be sentenced to five years in prison or face a fine of up to 30 million won ($26,424), under South Korean law.

Jung was dropped by his management company MakeUS Entertainment in light of the allegations.

Last week Seungri announced his decision to quit the entertainment industry.

“I think I’d better leave the entertainment industry at this moment,” he wrote on his official Instagram account. “I just cannot bear causing any further damage to people around me, while being hated and criticized by the public and being treated as a nation’s enemy during the investigation.” </s> SEOUL, South Korea – South Korean police on Thursday arrested K-pop singer Jung Joon-young over allegations that he illegally shared sexually explicit videos of women taken without their knowledge or consent.

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Jung hours after he appeared at a hearing and apologized to the victims and to "everyone who has showed affection for me." He was later escorted to a police station in downtown Seoul in handcuffs.

People involved in scandals in South Korea often issue public apologies even as they maintain their innocence.

Jung was first questioned by police last week about allegations that he secretly filmed his sexual encounters and shared them in private group chats with his friends.

More: South Korean police question 2 K-pop stars in sex scandals; both abruptly retire

Police are also investigating another K-pop star, Seungri, who soared to international stardom as a member of the group Big Bang, over suspicions that he attempted to arrange unlawful sexual services for his business investors.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency requested an arrest warrant for Jung on Monday through state prosecutors. The scandal has caused an uproar in South Korea, where women are increasingly speaking out against what they describe as a culture of misogyny with the rampant spread of intimate photos and videos taken by hidden cameras, which they say have women living in constant anxiety and distress. </s> South Korean prosecutors on Sunday said they believe President Park Geun-hye conspired in criminal activities of a secretive confidante who allegedly manipulated government affairs and exploited her presidential ties to amass an illicit fortune — a damning revelation that may convince opposition parties to push for her impeachment.

Prosecutors are planning to soon question Park, who has immunity but can be investigated, said Lee Young-ryeol, chief prosecutor of the Seoul Central Prosecutors’ Office.

Prosecutors on Sunday formally charged Park’s longtime friend, Choi Soon-sil, on suspicion of interfering with state affairs and bullying companies into giving tens of millions of dollars to foundations she controlled.

In a televised news conference, Lee said that based on the evidence, “the president was involved as a conspirator in a considerable part of the criminal activities by suspects Choi Soon-sil, Ahn Jong-beom and Jung Ho-sung.” He was referring to two presidential aides who also were formally charged Sunday for allegedly helping Choi.

“However, because of the president’s impunity from prosecution stated in Article 84 of the Constitution, we cannot indict the president. The special investigation headquarters will continue to push for an investigation of the president based on this judgment,” Lee said.

Park is facing growing calls to resign over the scandal critics say has undermined the country’s democracy. Emboldened by huge protests in recent weeks, opposition parties have been stepping up pressure on Park to quit.

Opposition parties have so far refrained from seriously pushing for Park’s impeachment over fears of triggering a backlash from conservative voters and negatively impacting next year’s presidential election.

However, there are growing voices within the opposition saying that an impeachment attempt is inevitable because it’s unlikely Park will resign and give up her immunity.

Ahn Jong-beom, Park’s former senior secretary for policy coordination, has been under suspicion of pressuring companies into making large donations to foundations Choi controlled.

Jung Ho-sung, another former presidential aide who was also indicted, has been accused of passing on classified presidential documents to Choi, including information on ministerial candidates.

Prosecutors are also seeking to indict Cha Eun-taek, a famous music video director who allegedly used his close relationships with Choi to win lucrative government culture projects, and former vice sports minister Kim Chong, suspected of providing business favors to sports organizations controlled by Choi.

Kim is also under suspicion of influencing the ministry’s decision to financially support a sports foundation run by Choi’s niece, who prosecutors detained Friday.

On Saturday, police said about 170,000 people turned out for the latest anti-Park protest in streets near City Hall and a boulevard fronting an old palace gate in Seoul.

Demonstrators also marched in streets near the presidential offices, carrying candles and illuminating cellphones, and shouting “Park Geun-hye step down” and “Arrest Park Geun-hye.”

Park’s term lasts until Feb. 24, 2018. If she steps down before the presidential vote on Dec. 20, 2017, an election must be held within 60 days. </s> K-pop singer Jung Joon-young has been arrested in South Korea over allegations that he illegally shared sexually explicit videos of women taken without their knowledge or consent.

K-pop singer Jung Joon-young has been arrested in South Korea over allegations that he illegally shared sexually explicit videos of women taken without their knowledge or consent.

The Seoul Central District Court issued an arrest warrant for Jung hours after he appeared at a hearing and apologised to the alleged victims and to “everyone who has showed affection for me”.

He was later escorted to a police station in central Seoul in handcuffs.

People involved in scandals in South Korea often issue public apologies even as they maintain their innocence.

Jung was first questioned by police last week about allegations that he secretly filmed his sexual encounters and shared them in private group chats with his friends.

Police are also investigating another K-pop star, Seungri, who soared to international stardom as a member of the group Big Bang, over suspicions that he attempted to arrange unlawful sexual services for his business investors.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency requested an arrest warrant for Jung on Monday through state prosecutors.

The scandal has caused an uproar in South Korea, where women are increasingly speaking out against what they describe as a culture of misogyny with the rampant spread of intimate photos and videos taken by hidden cameras, which they say have women living in constant anxiety and distress. </s> SEOUL – A South Korean cult leader was convicted Thursday of the multiple rapes of eight female followers - some of whom believed he was God - and jailed for 15 years.

Pastor Lee Jaerock's victims were "unable to resist as they were subject to the accused's absolute religious authority", judge Chung Moon-sung told the Seoul Central District Court.

Religious devotion is widespread in technologically advanced South Korea, with 44% of people identifying themselves as believers.

Most belong to mainstream churches, which can accumulate wealth and influence with tens of thousands of followers donating as much as 10% of their income.

But fringe groups are also widespread - experts say around 60 people in the country claim to be divine - and some have been implicated in fraud, brainwashing, coercion, and other behaviour associated with cults worldwide.

Lee set up the Manmin Central Church in Guro, once a poor area of Seoul, with just 12 followers in 1982. It has now grown to 130,000 members, with a spotlight-filled auditorium, sprawling headquarters, and a website replete with claims of miracle cures.

But three of Lee's followers went public earlier this year, as South Korea was swept with a wave of #MeToo accusations, saying he had summoned each of them to an apartment and forced them to have sex.

"I was unable to turn him down," one of them told South Korean television.

"He was more than a king. He was God," added the woman, who had been a church member since childhood.

Lee told another that she was now in Heaven, and to strip as Adam and Eve went naked in the Garden of Eden. "I cried as I hated to do it," she told JTBC television.

Eight women laid criminal complaints, and the court found Lee raped and molested them "tens of times" over a long period.

"Through his sermons the accused has indirectly or directly suggested he is the holy spirit, deifying himself," the judge said.

The victims believed him to be "a divine being who wields divine power", he added.

Lee, who denied the charges, stood with his eyes closed as the judgement was read, showing no emotion, while around 100 followers filled the courtroom to overflowing, some of them sighing quietly.

The 75-year-old's lawyers had accused the women of lying to seek vengeance after being excommunicated for breaching church rules. </s> Prosecutors on Tuesday raided Gyeonggi Province Gov. Lee Jae-myung's office and home, apparently to search for his wife's old mobile phone believed to hold crucial evidence in investigations into her suspected role in political slander.



Prosecutors and investigators from the Suwon District Prosecutors' Office began the raid on Lee's home in Seongnam, south of Seoul, at around 9 a.m.







(Yonhap)

About the same time, another group of prosecutors searched Lee's office in Suwon in the presence of the governor and his lawyer.The raid was apparently intended to retrieve an iPhone used by Lee's wife, Kim Hye-kyung, from July 2016 until April this year, when allegations of her involvement in online slandering of Lee's election rivals surfaced.Kim, who is suspected of posting slanderous messages on social media sites via her mobile phone, changed her iPhone and phone number in April and told police investigators later that she was not aware of its whereabouts.Police recently identified the owner of the Twitter ID "Hyekyunggung Ms. Kim," who left numerous defamatory comments before and during elections in recent years, as Kim.Police suspect she wrote comments in December 2016 against President Moon Jae-in, then Lee's potential rival in the Democratic Party's primary for the 2017 presidential election. She accused Moon of using his influence to help his son land a job at a public institution years ago.Police also claimed she wrote in April this year that one of Lee's rivals in the DP primary for the Gyeonggi Province gubernatorial election collaborated with the conservative opposition Liberty Korea Party.She faces charges of defamation and spreading of false information.Prosecutors believe Kim used the missing iPhone to write the two controversial posts.Tuesday's raids came eight days after police referred the case to the prosecution with an opinion of indictment.Kim was previously questioned by police but strongly denied any wrongdoing. Lee, former Seongnam mayor, has denounced the police for making politically motivated, baseless accusations while disregarding any evidence in Kim's favor. (Yonhap) </s> South Korean prosecutors said on Sunday they had indicted a friend of President Park Geun-hye and two former aides in a corruption scandal engulfing her administration, in a heavy setback to her fight for political survival.

Choi Soon-sil, Park’s friend, and former presidential aide An Chong-bum are charged with abuse of power in pressuring conglomerates to contribute funds to foundations at the center of the scandal, said Lee Young-ryeol, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office.

Lee said that his team believed Park had an accomplice role in the case but added that she cannot be indicted because she has constitutional immunity.

“We will continue to investigate the president,” Lee told reporters, declining to give further details.

Under the constitution, a sitting president cannot be indicted unless on charges of treason, but the conclusion by the prosecutors that Park was involved in the case prompted fresh calls from opposition parties for her to step down.

The main opposition Democratic Party and the centrist People’s Party said Park she will face impeachment proceedings if she refuses to resign. But they stopped short of saying they would immediately initiate such a move.

Analysts said the prosecutors’ conclusion about the president’s involvement increased the prospect that she would face impeachment.

“It provided a legal basis for impeachment proceedings, not only her moral and political liabilities,” said Kim Jun-seok, a political science professor at Dongguk University in Seoul.

Park is unlikely to voluntarily step down because she would lose immunity against prosecution, Kim said.

“Then, the only option that is left for politicians given the worsening public sentiment is impeachment,” he said.

South Korea’s presidential Blue House did not have an immediate comment. Lee did not say when the prosecutors will question Park.

The indictments had been expected. Choi has been accused of conspiring with An to exert improper pressure on dozens of the country’s biggest conglomerates to help raise 77.4 billion won ($65.59-million) on behalf of two non-profit foundations she controlled, according to the prosecutors.

Park’s presidency has been rocked by allegations that Choi used her ties to the president to meddle in state affairs and wield improper influence, but she has resisted calls to resign.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets of Seoul on Saturday in the fourth straight weekend of protests against her.

Prosecutors also indicted a second former presidential aide, Jeong Ho-seong, with leaking classified information to Choi.

An and Jeong both stepped down late last month as the crisis deepened.

Park has pledged to co-operate in the investigation but pushed back on the prosecutors’ plan to question her last week.

South Korea’s parliament has approved a bill to appoint a special prosecutor, who will take over from state prosecutors and conduct a separate and a more wide reaching probe. The special prosecutor is expected to begin work next month. </s> Pastor Lee Jaerock's victims were 'unable to resist as they were subject to the accused's absolute religious authority,' says a judge of the Seoul Central District Court

SEOUL, South Korea – A South Korean cult leader was convicted Thursday, November 22, of the multiple rape of 8 female followers – some of whom believed he was God – and jailed for 15 years.

Pastor Lee Jaerock's victims were "unable to resist as they were subject to the accused's absolute religious authority," judge Chung Moon-sung told the Seoul Central District Court.

Religious devotion is widespread in technologically advanced South Korea, with 44 percent of people identifying themselves as believers.

Most belong to mainstream churches, which can accumulate wealth and influence with tens of thousands of followers donating as much as 10 percent of their income.

But fringe groups are also widespread – experts say around 60 people in the country claim to be divine – and some have been implicated in fraud, brainwashing, coercion, and other behavior associated with cults worldwide.

Lee set up the Manmin Central Church in Guro, once a poor area of Seoul, with just 12 followers in 1982. It has now grown to 130,000 members, with a spotlight-filled auditorium, sprawling headquarters, and a website replete with claims of miracle cures.

But 3 of Lee's followers went public earlier this year, as South Korea was swept with a wave of #MeToo accusations, describing how he had summoned each of them to an apartment and raped them.

"I was unable to turn him down," one of them told South Korean television.

"He was more than a king. He was God," added the woman, who had been a church member since childhood.

Lee told another that she was now in Heaven, and to strip as Adam and Eve went naked in the Garden of Eden. "I cried as I hated to do it," she told JTBC television.

Eight women laid criminal complaints, and the court found Lee raped and molested them "tens of times" over a long period.

"Through his sermons the accused has indirectly or directly suggested he is the holy spirit, deifying himself," the judge said.

The victims believed him to be "a divine being who wields divine power", he added.

Lee stood with his eyes closed as the judgement was read, showing no emotion.

The 75-year-old had denied the charges, his lawyers accusing the women of lying to seek vengeance after being excommunicated for breaching church rules.

Around 100 followers filled the courtroom to overflowing, some of them sighing quietly.

But former congregants denounced Lee outside.

"The Manmin Central Church is all about worshipping the pastor Lee Jaerock," said Kim Yu-sun, who was a member for 20 years.

"Now that I go to a different church, I worship Jesus and pray to god," she added. "I'm happy and I like it."

South Korea has proven fertile ground for religious groups with strong, unambiguous ideologies that offered comfort and salvation, which appealed strongly during times of deep uncertainty.

More recent versions have claimed a unique knowledge of the path to material and spiritual prosperity – a message that resonates in a highly competitive and status-focused society.

According to a 2015 government survey, 28 percent of South Koreans say they belong to Christian churches, with another 16 percent describing themselves as Buddhist.

But according to Park Hyung-tak, head of the Korea Christian Heresy Research Institute, around two million people are followers of cults.

"There are some 60 Christian-based cult leaders in this country who claim to be the second coming of Jesus Christ, or God Himself," he told AFP.

"Many cults point to megachurches mired in corruption and other scandals in order to highlight their own presumed purity and attract believers," he added.

On his own website, Lee says that God has "anointed me with His power" but the Manmin Central Church has been condemned as heretical by mainstream Christian organizations, partly because of its claims to miracle healing.

In one example on the church website, Barbara Vollath, a 49-year-old German, said she was born deaf but her bone cancer was cured and she gained hearing in both ears after Lee's daughter and heiress apparent Lee Soojin prayed for her with a handkerchief he had blessed.

South Korean cults can have deadly consequences: in 1987, 32 members of an apocalyptic group called Odaeyang were found dead at their headquarters after an apparent murder-suicide pact, including its leader, who was under police investigation for embezzlement.

And they can influence the highest reaches of power.

Choi Soon-Sil, the woman at the center of the corruption scandal that brought down her close friend president Park Geun-Hye, is the daughter of late religious leader Choi Tae-min.

The elder Choi became Park's spiritual mentor after establishing his own church, Yeongsegyo ("Spiritual Life"), combining tenets of Buddhism, Christianity and shamanism. – Rappler.com
South Korean politician Ahn Hee-jung is indicted on accusations he repeatedly raped his aide Kim Ji-eun, who previously accused him publicly of sexual abuse.