Victim of sexual assault in Miryang refutes: “44 perpetrators have never consented to disclosure”

YouTube channel sequentially reveals Miryang sexual assault perpetrators
Narak Archives said, “Disclosure of conclusion with the victim’s family”
Victim Support Group: “We were not aware of the video before it was released.”
“44 people have not consented to disclosure and have requested deletion.”

"The victims of the 2004 Miryang sexual assault incident were completely unaware of the fact and did not receive prior consent until the YouTube channel 'Narak Archive' posted the first video about the 'Milyang gang sexual assault incident'."

Previously, YouTuber 'Narak Archive' announced that it would disclose all 44 perpetrators involved in the sexual assault of a middle school girl in Miryang and officially refuted the statement that it had received permission from the victim's family to reveal the perpetrators.

On the 5th, 'Narak Archive' explained through the YouTube community bulletin board, "There are many people who ask me, 'Did you ask permission from the victim (about revealing the perpetrators)?'" and "I spoke directly with the victim's family via email, and the conclusion was made to reveal all 44 people."

In response, the Korea Sexual Violence Counseling Center, one of the Miryang victim support groups, issued a press release and said, "It is not true that the channel had a direct email conversation with the victim's family and concluded that the perpetrator should be revealed."

The Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center emphasized, "The victim was unaware of the fact until the first video was posted," and added, "After the video was uploaded, a request was made to delete the video on the 3rd."

He continued, "The victim's family agreed and asked again to delete or modify the notice that all 44 people were to be released, but (the channel) has not made a correction." He said, "The Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center and the victim are embarrassed by the one-sided video upload and the race for views that are far from the victim's recovery to normal life and respect for the victim's will."

At the same time, he requested again, “We hope that ‘Narak Storage’ will delete the notice that the victim’s family consented and correct the situation.”

If this position is true, the 'Narak Storage' office has reexamined the incident by continuously posting the identity of the perpetrator without the victim's consent. Regardless, the 'Narak Archive' uploaded a video titled 'An advocate for the Miryang incident, living a normal life after giving birth to two children' on this day. This woman is known to be the secondary perpetrator of the incident. This is the third video following the perpetrator who worked as an employee at a famous soup restaurant that Baek Jong-won visited and as a Volvo salesman. The restaurant is currently on strike and Volvo has fired the employee.

The fact that the YouTube channel in question unilaterally revealed the perpetrator without the consent of the victim and caused social outrage is no different from committing private retaliation and inflicting secondary harm on the victim.

This is because social repercussions that are unrelated to the victim's will may actually hinder the victim from forgetting the incident and returning to daily life.

Na Chang-soo, general counsel at Daeryun Law Firm, said, "If a gap occurs between what the public thinks is a fair level of punishment and the country's actual level of punishment, there may be a movement to fill this gap with private sanctions. We need to consider why this gap has arisen." He also warned, "We must be aware that private retaliation can be used for commercial purposes due to the emergence of various media means, and that unfair damage may occur without knowing the exact details of the case."

Meanwhile, the Miryang sexual assault incident occurred in 2004, when 44 male middle school students gang-raped female middle school students for a year. At the time, prosecutors indicted 10 perpetrators who directly participated in the sexual assault, and those indicted were sentenced to probation. 20 people were sent to the juvenile department or released. The remaining 14 people lost their right to prosecution through an agreement.

Not a single one of the 44 people was punished, leaving no criminal record, causing public outrage.

The following is the full statement from the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center.

1. We offer human rights and equality greetings to your media company.

2. The Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center is one of the organizations supporting victims of the youth sexual violence incident that occurred in Miryang in 2004, and the perpetrators of sexual violence have recently been revealed by YouTube .

3. On June 5, 2024, YouTube's said, “We spoke directly with the victims' families via email and concluded that all 44 people will be made public.” The notice written is not true.

The victims of the 2004 sexual violence incident were completely unaware of the fact until posted the first video about the ‘Milyang mass sexual assault incident’ and were never asked for prior consent.

After the video was uploaded, a request was made to delete the video on June 3rd. The victims and their families have not agreed on the direction of releasing all 44 people in the future.

4. We requested again to delete or amend the announcement that all 44 victims were agreed upon by the victim's family, but no correction was made. Currently, various media outlets are publishing information that is different from the facts, such as "All 44 Miryang perpetrators disclosed, agreement reached with the victims' families," "Identities of the 44 Miryang sexual assault perpetrators revealed, the victims' families want them," "All 44 Miryang perpetrators scheduled to be revealed, victims' families give permission," and "Victims' permission was sought... All 44 perpetrators disclosed."

5. The Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center and the victim express their dismay and concern at the sudden appearance of one-sided video uploads and the race for views, which are far from the victim's recovery to daily life and respect for the victim's will.

6. please delete and correct the notice that the victim's family consented, and immediately correct the situation where it was misunderstood.

7. We request that the media take into account the victim's wishes and refrain from reporting in a provocative manner based on the video.

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