[Editorial] Sexual Assault Spreads to Theaters, "Me Too" Against Lee Youn-taek

The "#MeToo" movement was hot in the theater industry during the Lunar New Year holidays. Testimonies poured out from former members of the Yeonheedan Street Troupe who said they were victims of sexual assault by Lee Youn-taek, the famous director who once led the troupe. There was even a shocking accusation that Lee went beyond sexual harassment and even raped one of the victims. Posts revealing sexual assault cases by perpetrators other than Lee also continued to pop up on online communities of people in the theater industry and on social network sites (SNS). The victims shared details of sexual assault incidents, which included sexual harassment during classes and acting tutoring, and sexual assault in afterparties.

The sexual assault incidents involving Lee Youn-taek are too shameful to even mention. According to the victims' statements, Lee forced actresses to give him inappropriate massages after calling them to the Hwangtobang, an annex of the Yeonheedan Street Troupe, late at night when he was the director of the troupe. Behind such incidents lied omnipotent power that could control the future of the individual actresses. It is outrageous how the perpetrator rose to become the top director representing the South Korean theater industry, while the victims suffered from the pain and the wounds. If it were not for the courageous "Me Too" of Kim Su-hee, the leader of Miin Theater Company, it would be likely for the number of victims to increase.

Lee had hidden behind the Yeonheedan Street Troupe, consistently making "indirect apologies" so far. But as more victims continue to expose incidents and criticism grows fiercer, he decided to make a public apology on February 19. The National Theater Association of Korea announced that it would gather an emergency committee, hold the perpetrator responsible, and work to help victims recover and heal from the incidents. These are obvious measures, but they are not enough. Lee's behavior is not forgivable with a confession and an apology. If his words, "I will willingly receive what punishment that comes my way" (during an interview with the Kyunghyang Shinmun on February 14) are true, he should request an investigation. The theater association should not only thoroughly uncover the truth, but it should go further and root out the violent and irrational hierarchical culture throughout the theater industry.

The anti-sexual assault movement, which was triggered by Seo Ji-hyeon, a prosecutor who exposed that she was sexually assaulted by former chief prosecutor Ahn Tae-geun at the end of last month, has now moved on to the judicial circle, businesses, the literary circle and to the theater industry. This shows that sexual violence is not a problem confined to a specific field or group. As long as power relations exist, sexual violence exists in every organization and is rampant throughout the South Korean society. "Me Too" will inevitably move beyond the theater industry and spread to other fields. The victims have escaped from the "forced silence" and have now begun opening their mouths. It is time for society to listen to their calls and for the government to respond at the institutional level.

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