South Korea won't pursue high-profile sex scandal as rape

SEOUL, April 3 (UPI) -- South Korea's powerful ministry of justice has decided not to prosecute a high-profile political case as rape, citing insufficient digital evidence.

The ministry is in charge of probing the case of former vice minister of justice Kim Hak-ui, accused of raping women at an orgy hosted by a real estate developer.

Kim was a member of the former Park Geun-hye administration. President Moon Jae-in recently called for the reopening of the investigation into Kim on suspicion his case was not properly handled in 2013-14, when Park was in office.

On Wednesday, the justice ministry said evidence in the form of a CD did not support victims' allegations of sexual assault, News 1 reported.

The digital recording in question was filmed in 2006, but the assault took place in 2007 or 2008, the ministry said.

"It is difficult to trust the victims' testimony, and difficult to prove violence, therefore we cannot prosecute [the case] as rape," Seoul said.

The justice ministry representative had made the statement during a closed-door meeting at South Korea's parliament, according to the report.

The ministry also said the plaintiff's testimony was inconsistent and that the alleged image of vice minister Kim was taken from the back, and therefore "difficult to identify" as the defendant.

The digital recording was presented as evidence by lawmaker Park Jie-won of the minor liberal Party for Democracy and Peace. The party and the ruling Democratic Party share common political goals.

The CD is raising questions about how it was obtained.

Lee Eun-jae, a lawmaker with the main opposition Liberty Korea Party, said Park must clarify whether the police gave Park the recording, Newsis reported Wednesday.

Lee said the police should have presented the evidence if it was in their possession in 2013, when ex-President Park was in power.