Ex-Busan Mayor Faces Fresh Sexual Harassment Charge

Prosecutors in Busan have charged disgraced ex-mayor Oh Keo-don with sexually harassing another female public servant in the southern port city.

Oh resigned as mayor of Korea's second-biggest city in April after admitting he sexually harassed a female civil servant in his office, but now he is accused of harassing a different woman in November and December 2018.

When Busan police forwarded the case to prosecutors in August, Oh had only been charged with sexually assaulting a female civil servant at his office in early April. Police began investigating after Oh admitted the offense and resigned.

But prosecutors have now brought fresh charges after obtaining a recording related to his alleged sexual harassment of another female civil servant. In the recording, he can be heard telling her, "I'll buy you a meal" and "Would you like me to buy you a handbag?"

She alleges that he later sexually harassed her.

Two dozen investigators raided Oh's former office on Nov. 20 to search for evidence and interview civil servants there.

The ex-mayor denies the latest charges. A person close to Oh said, "The recording seems to be mere encouragement to a civil servant who has been working hard. Trying to use that as evidence of attempted sexual assault, I think, is going too far."

Meanwhile, the woman who first accused Oh on Thursday revealed a petition she sent to a court demanding Oh's arrest. "It has become too difficult for me to sleep without taking medicine because of the disgusting thing that happened at the mayor's office on April 7," she wrote. "I cannot understand why I have to endure so much pain when I have done nothing wrong."

A Busan district court on Friday reviews an arrest warrant for Oh.