[Feature] When your father is powerful man accused of sexual assault

Asked if she believed the women who have accused US President Donald Trump of sexual misconduct during a recent TV interview, Ivanka Trump, the US first daughter, said she “believes” her father’s denials.

“I don’t think that’s a question you would ask many other daughters,” she said in an interview that was aired on Monday.

“I believe my father, I know my father. So I think I have that right as a daughter to believe my father.”

In the wake of the global #MeToo movement, and whether or not she genuinely “believes” her father’s denials, Ivanka Trump is not the only daughter in the world who has faced this question: What is your response to the women who say they have been abused by your own father?
 

In South Korea, daughters of the public figures who have been accused of sexual violence also have become a subject of public criticism, leading them to turn their social media accounts private. The ongoing controversy has raised a question of whether or not the daughters are in any way responsible for the sufferings of the women allegedly abused by their fathers, especially when their careers are a result of nepotism or family connections.

One such daughter is Cho Youn-kyoung, the daughter of veteran actor and university professor Jo Min-ki. As of Tuesday, at least 10 women, most of them his former students, accused him of sexually assaulting them. One such women is theater actress Song Ha-neul, who studied at Cheogju University, where Jo served as one of the teaching staff.

“Once, Jo asked me how many times I have sex with my boyfriend every week, and ‘how’ I would do it,” she wrote. “Another time he groped my breasts (without my consent) and told me my breasts were smaller than he thought they were.”

The actress said it was almost impossible for anyone at the university to speak up against him, as he was one of the most powerful figures on campus. “A successful actor and a celebrity, he was the virtual king in our community.”

While the women have claimed that many female students suffered from such abuse for many years, Jo’s daughter, Elena, has been enjoying a semi celebrity status on Instagram, partly because of being her father’s daughter. Her graduation from Illinois Institute of Technology with high distinction and her admittance to Princeton University’s graduate program both received media attention here.

She also made a TV appearance back in 2015, along with her father Jo, in a program titled “Take Care of My Dad.” In the program, which featured the lives of mid-aged male celebrities and their teenage daughters, Jo was portrayed as a caring, doting father who would get jealous of the attention Elena gave her boyfriend. In one episode, Jo brought his daughter to Cheongju University, and introduced her to his own students -- the same students that have since accused Jo of sexual abuse.

“How are we going to interpret this -- that such a doting father and a monster can be the same person?” said Yang Yun-hee, a 30-year-old working professional in Seoul.

“I don’t think Elena is responsible for what happened, and she should not be blamed for her father’s actions. But I hope she can see how her life is interconnected with the lives of those who claim that they were abused by her father. That if her life success has been a result of her father’s support and career, that career was made at the expense of others, especially vulnerable young women.”

Another young woman whose father has been accused of sexual misconduct is actress Cho Hye-jung. Her father, Cho Jae-hyun, was accused of sexual misconduct by actress Choi Yul, who claimed that the famed actor sexually assaulted her in the past. 

Another woman, who said she worked with the actor at a film set four years ago, also accused him of kissing her without her consent; he reportedly told her, “I feel like you are my own daughter, so please give me a kiss.” The woman said she was 20 years old at the time.

Cho eventually acknowledged the allegations.

Like Ivanka Trump, Cho’s daughter, Hye-jung, has faced criticism for forming her acting career through family connections, rather than her own merits. Back in 2015, when she landed a coveted role in an MBC drama series after she, too, appeared on on “Take Care of My Dad,” many said her casting had more to do with her father’s influence than her acting skills or experience.

“When her career is inseparable from her father’s reputation in the entertainment industry in the first place, and that ‘reputation’ was somehow maintained in spite of him allegedly abusing young women in the field, then can we say Hye-jung is not complicit with what happened?” said Kang A-ram, a Seoulite in her 20s. 

“It upsets me because Cho helped his own daughter break into the acting industry, while exploiting other young women, probably as young as his own daughter, who also wanted to break into that field. There is this dominant idea that as long as you are a good father to your own child, you are forgiven regardless of what you’ve done to people who are younger than you are.”

Family connections and nepotism have long been a problem in many parts of South Korean society, including its ever-competitive job market. Last year, the country’s major casino Kangwon Land caused a storm of controversy after a corruption scandal, in which 95 percent of its staff turned out to have been hired to their personal and family connections, surfaced.

“Some aspiring actresses get an easy start because they are someone’s daughter, and some are forced to endure sexual assaults in order to achieve their dreams,” said a woman in South Korea’s film industry, who only wanted to be identified by her last name Park.

“I get angry when some people so easily say, ‘no one has asked you to be an actress’ or ‘you could’ve have just left the industry.’ It’s not that easy to give up what you’ve been wanting to get for so long.”

In a similar context, many claim that Ivanka Trump also attained her current position as a senior adviser at the White House, mainly because she was President Trump’s daughter. 

A number of critics in the US have asked Ivanka Trump’s resignation from her post after her NBC interview -- where she said as a daughter, she as the right not to believe her father’s accusers.

“Of course Ivanka Trump has a right not to believe the women; the phrase is meaningless. What she’s really saying is that she has an obligation and therefore an excuse,” wrote Molly Roberts for the Washington Post.

“To Trump, that excuse allows her to declare that ‘there’s a special place in hell for people who prey on children’ when it comes to Roy Moore and still act as though her father, who endorsed Moore and has been accused by at least 19 women of sexual assault, will meet a warm welcome at the pearly gates.”

Meanwhile, some Koreans claimed that the daughters of the two Korean actors -- Jo and Cho -- are also victims. 

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to blame them for what their fathers have done,” said Kim Han-na, a 27-year-old working professional in Seoul. 

“They are also victims in this situation. They are getting unwanted spotlight for something that they didn't do. Media outlets should stop producing stories about them, and try to focus on the accused only. This has been unfair and malicious.”

Others said relating sexual misconduct with being somebody’s daughter or sister shows “how far behind we still are.”

“Ivanka Trump is somehow justifying her father’s denial of numerous victims’ stories because she’s his daughter -- which doesn’t make sense at all,” said Jeong So-yeon, another working professional in Seoul.

“Donald Trump should be held accountable for his actions and lack of decency as an individual, not as a father. This should go vice-versa as well.”

Jeong also pointed out that some men only try to relate to victims by saying, “I’d hate to see this happen to my mother or sister or girlfriend.” But she said that just shows they need “some form of that intimate connection” in order to treat women as an equal.

“So what if they’re not your moms or sisters or friends? They don’t deserve that empathy? The fact that you need an extra layer of connection to realize that women are human and deserve to be treated with decency, goes to show that gender equality is not there yet.”

By Claire Lee (dyc@heraldcorp.com)

** Jeong So-yeon is not her real name. Her name has been changed upon request.