The Late Choi Jin-sil Helped Victim of Miryang Gang Rape Incident “Good Deed 20 Years Ago Re-examined”
Recently, the public has been outraged by the exposure of the identities of the perpetrators involved in the "Miryang middle school girl gang rape case". Amidst this, it has come to light that the late actress Choi Jin-sil provided financial support to a victim
On June 6th, an online community post titled “Choi Jin-sil who helped a 2004 Miryang gang rape victim” began spreading. The post referred to an interview with lawyer Kang Ji-won, who had represented Choi Jin-sil when she was sued by a construction company for 3 billion won for breach of dignity following her divorce.
At that time, Kang Ji-won was representing A, the victim of the gang rape, for free while also representing Choi Jin-sil pro bono. However, there was criticism for providing free legal services to a famous celebrity, and eventually, a legal fee was decided for Choi Jin-sil.
In the interview, lawyer Kang explained the dire situation of victim A following the media coverage of the case, “We had to hide A and her family. We relocated the mother and her two daughters to Seoul. There were no schools willing to accept the victim, so we protested at the education office, insisting that schools should take in students like her. Eventually, we managed to transfer her to a high school.”
Regarding their life in Seoul, lawyer Kang said, “They fled without any belongings and had no means of survival. I was representing Choi Jin-sil for free at the time, and there was backlash from an anti-Choi Jin-sil community. I told Choi Jin-sil to prepare 10 million won. She agreed readily, believing it to be a meaningful cause.” Lawyer Kang split the amount, sending 5 million won to the sexual violence counseling center and the remaining 5 million won to the victim’s mother.
The Miryang gang rape case involved 44 male students who repeatedly raped and threatened a female student over a year in 2004. None of the perpetrators faced criminal punishment, causing nationwide outrage. This incident inspired the film “Han Gong-ju” and tvN’s drama “Signal”.
On June 1st, a YouTube channel revealed the identities of the main perpetrators involved in the Miryang gang rape case. One perpetrator was found to be running a restaurant with a relative in Cheongdo, while another was working at an automobile company. However, after their identities were exposed, the restaurant was demolished, and the other perpetrator was fired from his job.
