The funeral service for Seoul mayor Park Won-soon, who took his own life after being accused of sexual harassment, was held Monday despite a petition against the city-run ceremony signed by half a million people.
Despite the controversy over his death, the Seoul City government organised a five-day funeral for Park -- two days longer than the normal Korean ritual, which begins on the day of death -- and set up a memorial altar outside City Hall. "Does the public have to watch the fancy five-day funeral of a powerful politician who took his own life over sexual harassment allegations?" the petition asked.A longstanding advocate of women's rights, Park is by far the most high-profile politician to be implicated in a harassment case in South Korea, a highly patriarchal society that has seen a widespread #MeToo movement in the last two years.
"I should have screamed, cried out loud and reported it at the very first time," the victim -- who maintained her anonymity -- said in a statement. But neither the acting leader of the main conservative opposition United Future party nor the leader of the centrist People's party Ahn Cheol-soo did so."Now is the time when deep reflections on the perceptions and behaviours of... high-ranking officials in this country are needed more than ever."