Ex-adviser to S. Korea’s Yoon found dead amid sexual assault allegations

Former three-term lawmaker Chang Je-won | The Korea Herald/Asia News Network

SEOUL — Chang Je-won, who was South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol’s closest adviser when Yoon was president-elect, was found dead at around Monday midnight, police said on Tuesday.

His body was found in a residence in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Police found no evidence of foul play. A note, apparently from Chang, was found at the scene.

Chang, formerly a conservative three-term lawmaker representing Sasang-gu constituency in Busan until 2024, was facing allegations that he had raped a woman in November 2015 when he served as vice dean of Busan Digital University.

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Chang in January was accused of sexually assaulting his former secretary, who was intoxicated at the time. His allegations were revealed by a news report of JTBC in early March.

Following recent revelations, Chang expressed his intention to leave the ruling People Power Party, though he and his legal representatives denied all allegations. They claimed Chang was not present at the scene. He was questioned by the police Friday.

However, a latest news report by JTBC Monday revealed what it claimed to be footage of a woman the morning after the incident, suggesting that she found herself inside a hotel room and was having a conversation with Chang. The woman reported the case to a Sunflower Center, a nonprofit that provides support to female victims of abuse in South Korea, while DNA evidence has been preserved since then.

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A legal representative of Chang’s former secretary was planning a press conference Tuesday morning to explain the basis of her allegations. But the event was canceled following Chang’s death.

A 10-year statute of limitations applies to most sex crimes, including rape, under South Korean law.

Chang was born to the second son of the political heavyweight Chang Sung-man, who was a two-term lawmaker and served as the deputy speaker of the National Assembly from 1987 to 1988. Chang’s father also founded Dongseo Educational Foundation, which runs institutions including Busan Digital University.

Chang was a lawmaker from 2008 to 2012, and from 2016 to 2024.

Chang served as Yoon’s top aide during the presidential transition period from March 2022 to May 2022 during his third term as a lawmaker. Chang declared he would not run for a fourth term in December 2023.