Perpetrator in Miryang gang rape case apologizes after info made public

One of the alleged perpetrators in the notorious 2004 Miryang gang rape case recently posted a video apologizing to the victim, continuing controversy surrounding the 20-year-old case.

Forty-four male high school students were accused of subjecting a middle school girl to months of sexual and physical assault.

"I want to say I am so sorry to the victim, who would have been living in unimaginable pain since 2004. ... I know no apology would absolve me, but I sincerely would like to apologize," the man surnamed Lee said in a three-minute video posted on YouTube on Sunday. He said he had wanted to hide as time passed, adding that he would "never forget what I did, and live the rest of my life in remorse."

Lee is one of many alleged perpetrators of the Miryang case whose identity was recently revealed. Several YouTube channels since early last month have been seeking to publicly reveal those accused of the heinous crime. Each of the perpetrators escaped criminal punishment on account of them being minors at the time.

There have been significantly fewer of the videos more recently, after a civic group that has been aiding the victim and her family publicly stated that they do not want such videos to be posted or efforts made at revealing the perpetrators. The victim and her family said they only wanted to move on from the traumatic experience that had scarred them for life.

The video by Lee marked the first public apology by a person admitting responsibility for the horrific crimes in Miryang, South Gyeongsang Province. A day after Lee's apology, another perpetrator surnamed Yoon apologized in a video a little over three minutes long.

Neither of the two went into much further detail aside from their supposed guilt and remorse.

The recent YouTube videos have brought back to the fore the two-decade-old Miryang incident, which sent shockwaves across the nation for its brutal nature and the widespread victim-blaming by the local community. A 2005 survey of 645 residents of the city had showed that 64 percent blamed the principal victim for the crimes against her.

Police officials were also held accountable for mistakenly leaking the victim family's information to the public, as well as secondary damage to the primary victim of the gang rape incident due to improper conduct.

The Supreme Court in 2008 ordered the state to pay compensation for damages and stress caused by the police.

The city of Miryang and community leaders in the southeastern city on June 25 issued a belated public apology to the victim, saying the responsibility for the tragedy falls on every member of the community.