Tuesday, May 31, 2022

Fighting sex crime — and the status quo

Meet the 26-year-old proving to millions of South Korean women they deserve something better, online and off. 
After years working anonymously to fight online sex crime, Park Ji-hyun has emerged at the highest levels of South Korean politics. Photographer: Woohae Cho/Bloomberg

South Korea is celebrated for its soaring economic growth and for technological advances that include the world's fastest internet. But women have been largely left out of the boom, and online, digital extortion and sexual exploitation are shockingly common. 

An unlikely leader emerged during the last presidential election: 26-year-old Park Ji-hyun, an activist who had anonymously busted one of the country's bigger online sex-crime rings while still a university student. A leading presidential candidate convinced her to reveal her identity and to serve as a senior advisor to his campaign. 

He lost, but she didn't. Park was named co-chair of the opposition, tasked with rebuilding the party. She's since become a lightning rod for partisans who think she's too critical of her own party colleagues, many of whom have been embroiled in sexual harassment scandals of their own.

Park has also become a lodestar for the millions of South Korean women who know they deserve something better, online and off. 

Read The Big Take

    From today's story

    "You might be reminded of AOC or other young politicians who can be seen as the future of the US Democratic Party." 
    — Wonsuk Chin
    Film director, referring to Park Ji-hyun

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