Miryang Gang Rape Perpetrator Reveals Face And Issues A Public Apology

One of the perpetrators of the 2004 Miryang gang rape case recently came forward with an apology for his crime.

A man surnamed Lee, who claimed to be one of the many perpetrators of the heinous crime, uploaded an apology video on a YouTube channel called Miryang The Glory. He started the video by saying that he wanted to apologize to a victim over an incident that happened 20 years ago. This marks the first public apology where an assailant has revealed his face. In the past two decades, multiple of them have offered apology statements that were either written or voiced.

The 2004 rape case involved 44 high school students who were accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old over a year. The perpetrators also filmed the assaults and distributed them over the internet. It was also alleged that the victim’s sister and cousin were also sexually assaulted.

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

A day after Lee posted his apology video, another perpetrator, Yoon, also apologized in a three-minute video. However, neither of the two men divulged many details about the incident.

The 20-year-old case resurfaced in the public discourse after a YouTuber revealed the identities of some of the alleged perpetrators. Though initially deemed a positive move to bring the perpetrators to justice after they all escaped criminal punishment on account of being minors at the time, the YouTuber was later reprimanded for lying about attaining the victim’s consent for his exposé. Read more about it here.