South Korea church apologizes for abuse

SEOUL (SOUTH KOREA)
Agence France-Presse via the Hürriyet (Turkey) Daily News

February 25, 2018

South Korea’s Catholic church on Feb. 25 apologized to a woman who accused a priest of sexual abuse and attempted rape during a trip to a mission in South Sudan.

Kim Min-Kyung took the rare step of appearing on television news last week to accuse the priest of sexually abusing her during their trip to the country in 2011.

Kim, a volunteer who helped build a school and medical clinics in South Sudan, said the priest repeatedly tried to rape her, at one point breaking into her room at night. “He pinned me down so that I couldn’t move and said ‘I can’t control my body anymore. Please understand me,’” Kim told KBS TV station, saying she managed to flee the room.

Kim said she had reported the incidents to other priests at the mission but received little help, and had previously decided to keep silent “for the sake of the church and the mission.”

The name of the priest was withheld.

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