Vice President Huh Moon-young, former Executive Chairman ‘Sexual harassment in the workplace’ It was judged that it was “unintentional” [Issue in]

At the end of May last year, suspicions were raised that former Busan International Film Festival Executive Chairman Heo Moon-young had committed sexual violence and sexual harassment against an employee within the festival, and on June 5, the Busan International Film Festival announced the ‘Korea Film Gender Equality Center, Strong’ The report was filed through

The ruling on this came out in December. In response to this, the Busan International Film Festival issued a statement and promised to improve the organizational culture.

The Busan International Film Festival defined the incident of sexual violence and sexual harassment by former executive chairman Heo Moon-young as a ‘workplace sexual harassment case’ and contacted an external professional organization, the Busan Sexual Violence Relief Center, Busan Culture and Arts Center for Sexual Harassment and Sexual Violence Prevention, for an objective and professional investigation. A fact-finding investigation was commissioned, but former Executive Chairman Heo Moon-young requested that the investigation agency be changed to a law firm or a labor law firm due to guarantees of expertise and objectivity, and did not respond to several investigation recommendations, so the investigation was inevitably conducted only on the reporter and references. He told us about the process.

However, based on a circumstantial investigation in which the reporter’s statement was specific and consistent and the specific statements of the witnesses were consistent with each other, it was determined that it constituted sexual harassment in the workplace, and as a result of the deliberation committee decision in December 2023, ‘ It was announced that it had been notified that it was a “serious case against sexual harassment in the workplace.”

In order to improve the situation, the Busan International Film Festival conducted a thorough survey of all employees after the incident, as well as preventive education such as a gender equality campaign and in-depth education, and pledged to improve the organizational culture to prevent similar cases from occurring.

However, the statement from former Executive Chairman Heo Moon-haeng, which was also sent, seemed quite different from the resolution of the Busan International Film Festival. He said, “The Busan International Film Festival has requested the Busan Sexual Violence Counseling Center to investigate this report. However, the respondent did not respond to the investigation, requesting to change the investigation agency to a law firm or labor law firm for reasons of guaranteeing expertise and objectivity. Accordingly, we state that the results of the investigation and deliberation of this report were derived solely from the investigation of the reporter and references.” He denied the results, saying;

He said, “If something I said unintentionally caused discomfort to the other person, I would accept full responsibility. But I cannot accept the judgment that it is continuous and intentional, especially that it is intentional, which asserts my inner will. Since I finally stepped down from my position as executive committee chairman out of concern about the damage that the controversy surrounding me would cause to the film festival, I have had a period of self-reflection to humbly look back on my life, and I plan to continue to do so for a considerable period of time. Once again, I would like to thank the many people who have unexpectedly caused concern. He concluded by saying, “I would like to apologize.”

Meanwhile, the 8th Busan International Film Festival held last year was operated under an agency system centered on chief programmer Nam Dong-cheol. Due to a lack of film festival budget, outdoor events and film screenings have decreased significantly, and OTT content has become an event that receives more attention than movies, raising questions about the fundamental purpose of the film festival.

iMBC Kim Kyung-hee | Photo provided by Busan International Film Festival