Police resummon head of Saekdongwon facility over sexual assault allegations
Published: 05 Feb. 2026, 08:45
![Kim, head of the Saekdongwon residential facility for people with severe disabilities, exits the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul after questioning on Feb. 4. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/02/05/ae0356f8-aba3-4c5a-80ea-f90d83b52d56.jpg)
Kim, head of the Saekdongwon residential facility for people with severe disabilities, exits the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency building in Seoul after questioning on Feb. 4. [NEWS1]
Police have resummoned the head of Saekdongwon, a residential facility for people with severe developmental disabilities, regarding allegations that he sexually assaulted 19 women who were cared for at the facility.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency questioned Kim, the facility director, for about six hours starting at 1 p.m. on Wednesday, two months after his first round of questioning in December.
Kim left the interrogation room at around 7:07 p.m. and returned home without responding to reporters’ questions such as, “Do you admit to the rape allegations?” and “Do you agree with the report stating that 19 people were victimized?”
Kim is accused of forcing sexual intercourse or coercing acts resembling sexual activity with female residents with disabilities under the pretext of providing daily guidance. Separate suspicions have also been raised that Kim embezzled government subsidies provided to Saekdongwon or the personal assets of residents.
After Incheon’s Ganghwa County, where Saekdongwon is located, commissioned an in-depth investigation by a university, statements were secured from 19 women ranging from their 30s to 60s — 17 current residents and two former residents — who said they were sexually assaulted. Police say at least six of those cases are considered provable at this stage.
Police searched and seized the facility in September last year, imposed a travel ban on Kim and have since questioned 20 female residents who were living at Saekdongwon until last month. A special investigation team was formed at the direction of Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, with 27 police officers assigned to the case.
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 KIM JI-HYE [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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