A Seoul court has awarded 309.5 million won ($224,700) in damages to a woman who revealed years of sexual harassment by a senior Buddhist monk and suffered adverse consequences in subsequent personnel decisions.
The Northern Seoul District Court ruled in favor of the victim in her lawsuit against the perpetrator and the Shinkyuk Buddhist Order, which unfairly transferred her from her original position after she self-incriminated.
The court found that the woman faced adverse personnel decisions, including forced transfers, after she revealed the abuse in 2021. In an interview with local broadcaster SBS, she said the monk, who is in his 50s, touched her repeatedly without her consent after she joined the order in 2017 when she was 25.
A colleague of the victim backed up the claim in the same report, saying she was visibly uncomfortable with the defendant’s physical contact in the office.
The monastic order’s disciplinary committee initially suspended the monk for five years in December 2021 following the #Metoo allegations. But the decision was later reversed by the monastic leadership, and the victim was transferred to the Daejeon branch instead.
The court-ordered 309.5 million won in damages included 100 million won for sexual harassment, 200 million won for improper transfer, and the remaining amount for treatment the victim received for sexual harassment.
In November last year, the Jin Gak Order, which was responsible for the transfer, and its human resources officials were found guilty of violating the Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act and the Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act.
In February this year, the monk was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, and is currently appealing the verdict and undergoing an appellate trial.
