[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- A senior ruling party lawmaker tendered his resignation to parliament Monday over sexual harassment allegations, becoming the second politician to sink in South Korea's #MeToo movement that led to the suicide of a veteran actor.
A businesswoman claimed last week that she was sexually harassed by Min Myung-doo, a three-term lawmaker of the ruling Democratic Party, at a karaoke bar in 2008. Min insisted he was unaware of his involvement in any sexual misconduct, but he said he would step down anyway.
Last week, actor Jo Min-ki, 52, hanged himself three days before police were to question him on charges of sexually harassing college students. The ill-fated actor was expelled as a drama professor at a university in Cheongju south of Seoul last month over a string of sexual abuse allegations.
An Hee-jung, who was once regarded as a potential ruling party presidential candidate, was questioned by police last week after he stepped down as governor of the South Chungcheong Province. His female secretary insisted she was forced to have sex with An four times.
Since the MeToo movement began in January, there have been revelations against a dozen famous figures including Ko Un, an 84-year-old poet whose works were translated and published in dozens of countries with his name often mentioned as a Nobel Prize candidate.
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