O Yeong-Su: Squid Recreation star acquitted of sexual misconduct cost – BBC

Squid Recreation star O Yeong-Su has been acquitted of sexual misconduct costs by a courtroom in South Korea.
The 81-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a girl twice. The allegations stated that he hugged the lady 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 stated he would enchantment in opposition to the decision.
On Tuesday, a courtroom overturned his sentence, saying he had undergone courses on sexual violence and suggesting that the alleged sufferer's reminiscence might have been "distorted", contemplating how way back the incident occurred.
The alleged assaults passed off in 2017 when Mr O was staying in a rural space for a theatre efficiency.
The alleged sufferer filed a grievance 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 stated there was "doubt" as as to if Mr O had dedicated the assault.
"There’s a risk that the sufferer's reminiscence has been distorted over time, and when there’s doubt… the defendant have to be given the advantage of the doubt".
Nonetheless, the assertion additionally went on to say that it was potential 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 could not "invalidate the reality or erase the ache I’ve suffered".
"Regardless of right now's ruling, I’ll proceed to talk the reality to the very finish," she stated in an announcement launched via girls's rights organisation Womenlink.
Womenlink additionally criticised the ruling, saying they have been "outraged by a ruling that when once more conceals sexual violence within the theatre world".
It’s not but clear if the prosecution will enchantment.
Chatting with native media retailers after the courtroom ruling, Mr O stated he had "gratitude to the courtroom for its sensible judgement".
Mr O rose to worldwide fame after starring in Squid Recreation, a dystopian drama which sees individuals competing in lethal variations of conventional youngsters's video games.
In 2022, he turned 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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