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A claim is spreading online that a Korean student who has been identified as an alleged perpetrator and sued in connection with allegations that a female student at the prestigious Ivy League university Cornell was gang-raped by seven male students is the grandson of former South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo, who died last year. On the 1st, posts circulated on social media, including X (formerly Twitter), stating, “One of the seven Cornell rapists is the grandson of former Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo.” The posts disclosed the student’s real name as well as the names and social positions of his parents. The person who made the post shared a photograph of Student A, who has been identified as an alleged perpetrator, along with media photographs showing A attending former Prime Minister Lee’s funeral in May as a member of the bereaved family. The poster added, “They are an elite family belonging to the most privileged class in Korea. This is truly astonishing.” According to foreign media outlets including Reuters and the Associated Press, the case came to light after a female Cornell student claimed that she was sexually assaulted by seven students in October 2024 inside the building of Chi Phi, a male student fraternity on campus. The woman was 20 years old at the time. The female student filed a lawsuit on the 16th, alleging that she was gang-raped while she was completely unable to control her body because of alcohol and drugs provided by fraternity members. The complaint reportedly includes screenshots of messages from a Snapchat group chat that allegedly show fraternity members encouraging other students to participate, as well as detailed accounts of what allegedly happened at the time. The woman reported the incident to campus police approximately three weeks after it occurred, but prosecutors did not pursue criminal charges at the time. The university said it conducted its own investigation and imposed disciplinary measures, including expulsion and suspension, against some students, but it did not disclose specific information such as the number of students who were disciplined. Matthew Van Houten, the District Attorney for Tompkins County, New York, issued a statement on the 28th (local time) explaining why criminal charges had not been brought at the time. He said that in the initial statement the female student provided to investigators, she had not claimed that she had been gang-raped or drugged. Prosecutors plan to review the case following the filing of the lawsuit and submit evidence concerning the seven Cornell students to a grand jury. Unlike a trial jury in the United States, which determines whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty, a grand jury determines, based on evidence presented by prosecutors, whether there is sufficient basis to formally indict someone. submitted by /u/glovecasewave |
“Korean accused in Cornell University ‘gang rape’ case is grandson of former Prime Minister Lee Hong-koo,” claim spreads online | “美 코넬대 ‘집단 성폭행’ 가해 韓인은 이홍구 전 총리 손자” 온라인 확산
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