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Online petition calls for special probe into 'supporting actor gang rape case'

Published: 04 Jan. 2026, 20:10

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

An online petition for a special probe into the “supporting actor gang rape case” has garnered over 20,000 signatures as of Jan. 3. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

An online petition calling for a parliamentary hearing and the appointment of a special prosecutor over the “supporting actor gang rape case” has garnered more than 20,000 signatures as of Saturday.

The case refers to the deaths of two young women in 2009. In August 2009, Yang So-ra died by suicide after claiming to have been sexually assaulted by 12 men while working as a supporting actor at a broadcasting network. Her younger sister also died by suicide four days later, allegedly out of guilt for having recommended the job to her sister.

The petition, posted on the National Assembly’s electronic petition platform by an anonymous petitioner surnamed Cho, requested that the case be investigated through a special probe. Cho claimed that the case was not investigated thoroughly and was therefore closed without just cause.

The siblings' mother continues to demand a thorough investigation and has carried on the fight alone. The women's father died in November 2009 from a brain bleed, reportedly from the shock of the tragedy.

“Even the judge described the case as a devastating failure of public authority in the ruling's supplementary remarks,” wrote the petitioner. “A full investigation is needed into why the victim was, at the time, forced to withdraw the complaint. The petition calls for both a National Assembly hearing and the appointment of a special prosecutor.”

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY YOON SO-YEON, SHIN HYE-YEON [[email protected]]