South Korea’s highest court dismissed claims for compensation from the initiator of the country’s #MeToo movement on Thursday, after she had filed suit against a boss over alleged sexual abuse.
Seo Ji-hyun said she was groped by her superior Ahn Tae-geun at a funeral in 2010, and that he had her transferred from Seoul to a provincial position after she filed an internal complaint, blighting her career as a state prosecutor.
She suffered in silence for years until she went public in a 2018 television interview, a rare move which triggered a flood of similar accusations against powerful men in fields ranging from literature to politics that grew into a South Korean #MeToo movement.
In 2018, Seo filed a 100 million won ($77,000) compensation suit against Ahn for physical and mental damages, as well as unspecified “state compensation” from the government.
Her claims were dismissed by two lower courts, which had ruled that the statute of limitations for the damages claim had expired.
The courts also said it was difficult to conclude Ahn’s decision to transfer Seo was a “harmful” or “illegal” act.
On Thursday, the top court upheld the lower courts’ decisions, dismissing Seo’s appeal.
“There were no errors in the judgment” in the previous rulings, the Supreme Court said in a statement.
Following the ruling, Seo said the court made a “shameful decision”.
“It is disheartening that in 2023, only this much of a ruling can be made,” she said in a public Facebook post.
Seo’s former boss, Ahn, was sentenced to two years in prison for abuse of power in 2019. He was separately fired for corruption in 2017.
Ahn was not charged with sex abuse because the one-year statute of limitations had expired before Seo brought her complaint.
He walked free in 2020 after his conviction was quashed by the Supreme Court, which ordered a retrial.
His acquittal was finalised by the lower court that year, and local media have reported that he has since joined Kim & Chang, one of the biggest law firms in the country.
Seo said on Thursday she was effectively forced to leave her job as a state prosecutor, endured malicious rumours and experienced emotional distress since her 2018 television interview.
Activists say her story exemplifies the plight of many South Korean women — well-educated and hard-working yet discriminated against and mistreated by their employers — as well as their frustration at the slow pace of social change.
“Although my journey ends here, I believe that the women who come after me, the next generations, will take another step forward,” Seo said in her post.
