
Squid Sport star O Yeong-Su has been acquitted of sexual misconduct fees by a court docket in South Korea.
The 81-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a girl twice. The allegations mentioned that he hugged the girl and kissed her on the cheek in opposition to her will.
Mr O was discovered responsible in 2024 and given an eight-month suspended jail sentence, however mentioned he would attraction in opposition to the decision.
On Tuesday, a court docket overturned his sentence, saying he had undergone lessons on sexual violence and suggesting that the alleged sufferer's reminiscence could have been "distorted", contemplating how way back the incident occurred.
The alleged assaults occurred in 2017 when Mr O was staying in a rural space for a theatre efficiency.
The alleged sufferer filed a criticism in opposition to Mr O in 2021, however the case was closed in April the identical yr. The prosecution later reopened the investigation "on the request of the sufferer", based on Yonhap company.
In an announcement reported by native media retailers, the Suwon District Court docket mentioned there was "doubt" as as to whether Mr O had dedicated the assault.
"There’s a chance that the sufferer's reminiscence has been distorted over time, and when there may be doubt… the defendant should be given the advantage of the doubt".
Nonetheless, the assertion additionally went on to say that it was doable Mr O had dedicated assault, as he had apologised to the sufferer.
The alleged sufferer later spoke out in opposition to the decision, saying it might not "invalidate the reality or erase the ache I’ve suffered".
"Regardless of as we speak's ruling, I’ll proceed to talk the reality to the very finish," she mentioned in an announcement launched by means of ladies's rights organisation Womenlink.
Womenlink additionally criticised the ruling, saying they had been "outraged by a ruling that when once more conceals sexual violence within the theatre world".
It isn’t but clear if the prosecution will attraction.
Chatting with native media retailers after the court docket ruling, Mr O mentioned he had "gratitude to the court docket for its clever judgement".
Mr O rose to worldwide fame after starring in Squid Sport, a dystopian drama which sees folks competing in lethal variations of conventional kids's video games.
In 2022, he grew to become the primary South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe award for greatest supporting actor in a sequence, after his efficiency within the first season of the chart-topping Netflix thriller.
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