The Korea Herald

지나쌤

Top poet denies sexual abuse allegations

By Yonhap

Published : March 4, 2018 - 19:18

    • Link copied

Ko Un, the renowned South Korean poet, has denied allegations that he sexually harassed a junior poet, his British publisher said Sunday.

(The Guardian) (The Guardian)


Female poet Choi Young-mi revealed her experience of being groped by an unnamed senior poet in a poem titled "Monster"

released in early February. She did not disclose the name of the perpetrator, but news media have pointed to Ko Un based on the details described in the poem.

"I flatly deny the allegations of habitual sexual harassment that have been raised by some," the poet was quoted by Neil Astley, an editor of Bloodaxe Books, as saying.

Since a female prosecutor's revelation last month that she was assaulted by a senior prosecutor several years ago, the "Me Too"

movement has rippled through diverse sectors of Korean society.

At an International Women's Day ceremony in Seoul on Sunday, victims of sexual violence, ranging from a teenage student to a former professor and an ex-political party worker, took the podium to disclose their suffering and call for justice to be dealt to offenders. (Yonhap)