South Korea's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the claim for damages from the pioneer of the #MeToo movement in the country, citing in particular the expiration of the statute of limitations for cases.
Since 2018, judge Seo Ji-hyun, now 50, has publicly accused a former superior of sexually abusing her during a funeral they both attended in 2010.
Ms. Seo's televised revelations sent an electric shock across South Korea. Since then, many women in the country have dared to accuse male figures from the arts, politics or religion of sexual violence against them.
Ms. Seo filed a lawsuit in 2018 seeking 100 million won (around 70,000 euros) in damages from her former boss and alleged attacker Ahn Tae-geun, a prosecutor in Seoul at the time of the events. She also demanded reparations from the state.
But she lost her cases at first instance and then on appeal, always because the facts were invalid.
The South Korean judicial system also did not find that Ahn Tae-geun's decision to transfer Ms. Seo to lower positions after her first internal complaint against him was a “harmful” or “illegal” act.
According to her reaction posted on Facebook on Thursday, Ms. Seo found the Supreme Court's decision “shameful.”
“It is depressing to see that such a decision could be made in 2023,” she added, but was convinced it would “inevitably be overturned” one day.
Ahn Tae-geun was sentenced to two years in prison in 2019 for abuse of power over Ms Seo's transfer, before his conviction was overturned by the Supreme Court the following year.
He was never charged in connection with the alleged sexual assault and has since joined one of the country's largest law firms, Kim & Chang, according to local media.
According to women's rights activists in South Korea, Ms. Seo's case is emblematic of the situation of many women in the country who are well-educated and hard-working but face discrimination and harassment from their male superiors and are frustrated by the slow pace of developing mentalities.
“Although my (judicial) journey ends here, I am confident that the women who will come after me, the new generations, will take a new step forward,” Ms Seo said again on Thursday.