The star of the South Korean series Squid Game, O Yeong-Su, has been convicted of inappropriate sexual behavior following accusations of hugging and kissing a woman on the cheek without her consent. The actor has been sentenced to eight months in prison, with the sentence suspended for two years. He plans to appeal the ruling, which also includes attending a 40-hour sexual offender program.
O was accused in 2022 of hugging and kissing a woman on the cheek in 2017, as reported by the Korean news agency Yonhap. However, he has consistently denied the allegations, stating in the past that he felt “a lot of pain and agony” as if “his life was falling apart.” According to the 79-year-old man, he took the woman’s hand to guide her around a lake.
“I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn’t make a fuss about it, but that doesn’t mean I admit to the charges,” he said.
The presiding judge, Jeong Yeon-ju, stated that the victim’s records of the assault and her claims were “consistent… and seem like statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them,” as quoted by the AFP agency.
“What is written in the victim’s diary and the victim’s counseling report after the incident practically match the details of this case,” he said.
O Yeong-Su was one of the prominent actors in the global hit Squid Game, for which he won his first Golden Globe in 2022 for his portrayal of player 001. O has been acting for over 50 years and began his career in the theater in the 1960s, where he portrayed various characters in classical and Western theater. He was part of the National Theater Company of Korea before leaping television and film productions. In response to the ruling, Womenlink, a women’s rights group in South Korea, welcomed the decision.
“The accused resembles other perpetrators of sexual violence in the theater in the past who tried to cover up their sexual violence as ‘favor’ and ‘friendship’.”
This story was written in Spanish by Daniel Matute in Cultura Colectiva.
