Squid Game star acquitted of sexual misconduct charge
Squid Game star O Yeong-Su has been acquitted of sexual harassment charges by a court in South Korea.
The 81-year-old man was accused of sexually assaulting a woman twice in 2022. It was stated in the allegations that he hugged the woman without her consent and kissed her on the cheek.
Mr O was convicted in 2024 and given an eight-month suspended prison sentence, but said he would appeal the decision.
A court on Tuesday overturned the sentence, saying she had learned a lesson about sexual violence and arguing that the alleged victim’s memory may have been “distorted” given how long ago the incident took place.
The alleged assaults occurred in 2017 when Mr O was in a rural area for a theater performance.
The alleged victim filed a complaint against Mr. O in 2021, but the case was closed in April of the same year. The prosecutor’s office later reopened the investigation “at the request of the victim,” according to Yonha agency.
In a statement reported by local media outlets, the Suwon District Court said there was “doubt” as to whether Mr. O carried out the attack.
“There is a possibility that the victim’s memory may deteriorate over time and when there is doubt… the accused should be given the benefit of the doubt.”
However, the statement also stated that it was possible that Mr O had committed the attack because he apologized to the victim.
The alleged victim later spoke out against the decision, saying it “will not invalidate the truth or erase the pain I have endured.”
“Despite today’s decision, I will continue to tell the truth until the end,” she said in a statement published through the women’s rights organization Womenlink.
Womenlink also criticized the decision, saying they were “outraged by a decision that once again hides sexual violence in the world of theatre”.
It is not yet clear whether the prosecutor will object.
Speaking to local media outlets after the court decision, Mr O said he was “grateful to the court for its wise decision”.
Mr. O rose to international fame after starring in Squid Game, a dystopian drama in which people compete in deadly versions of traditional children’s games.
Following his performance in the first season of Netflix’s chart-topping thriller, he became the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe award for best supporting actor in a series in 2022.
