South Korean media reported that on June 25, the Korean Supreme Court (Council of Judges No. 3) upheld the appellate court's ruling, declaring Oh Young Soo innocent in the case prosecuted on charges of 2 acts of sexual assault.
Previously, in November 2022, actor Oh Young Soo - famous for Netflix's "Squid Game" - was prosecuted without detention for allegedly coercing and molesting a female colleague who was a junior in the drama troupe.
Accordingly, in August 2017, during his stay in Daegu to perform a play, he was accused of hugging this woman on a walkway. In September of the same year, he continued to be accused of kissing her cheek in front of her residence.
Oh Young Soo then denied all charges, but the first-instance court in March 2024 sentenced him to 8 months in prison, suspended his sentence for 2 years, and demanded 40 hours of treatment for sex offenders.
At that time, the court determined that: "The victim's testimony was consistent and contained details that would be difficult to present if she had not actually experienced the incident". Therefore, the first-instance court concluded that Oh Young Soo was guilty.
However, neither the prosecutor nor Oh Young Soo accepted the verdict and appealed. In the appellate hearing held in November 2024, the court overturned the first-instance judgment and declared him innocent.
The appellate court pointed out that some details in the plaintiff's testimony have changed over time, such as whether the actor only intended to kiss or actually kissed her.
The court also stated that the level of contact in the hug accused alone is not sufficient to constitute the crime of sexual assault in a certain way.
After being declared innocent, Oh Young Soo's representative expressed gratitude and called it "a wise verdict".
Meanwhile, the plaintiff's representative strongly criticized this decision, saying that it did not fully reflect the power gap that often exists in sexual violence cases.
The prosecution continued to appeal, claiming that the appellate court had applied the law incorrectly. However, the Korean Supreme Court rejected this appeal, thereby officially confirming the innocence of Oh Young Soo.
Oh Young Soo was born in 1944, widely known to the public for his role as 001 Oh Il-nam in the original Netflix series "Squid Game" released in 2021.
In 2022, he won the Best Supporting Actor award in the television category at the 79th Golden Globe Awards.
