A South Korean court sentenced Squid Game actor O. Yeong-Su to eight months of suspended prison for sexual misconduct.
The 79-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually abusing a lady twice.
The assaults occurred five years earlier, in 2017, while the actor was staying in a rural location for a theatre performance, according to the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court.
The actor has announced he will appeal the verdict and has seven days to do so.
According to Yonhap, he allegedly hugged and kissed a woman on the cheek against her will.
Yeong-Su has also been required to attend sexual violence education lessons, according to reports.
According to AFP, Judge Jeong Yeon-ju said the victim’s records of the assault and her claims were “consistent… and appear to be statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them.”
Yeong-Su refuted the claims, which, according to Suwon District Court, occurred on a walking route in front of the victim’s home.
The actor soared to international prominence after playing in Squid Game, a dystopian thriller in which competitors compete in lethal versions of conventional children’s games.
It was a great and unexpected success on Netflix, gaining over 100 million viewers worldwide within weeks of its premiere in 2021.
The following year, Yeong-Su became the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe for his role as the competition’s oldest participant, Oh Il-nam.
According to Reuters, Yeong-Su was withdrawn from an upcoming South Korean film due to the controversy surrounding the charges against him.
Womenlink, a renowned feminist organization, spoke with reporters shortly after the sentencing, saying, “Now we can say that the sexual violence in the theatre is not an old custom but sexual violence. The accused must stop trying to make his assault go away, apologize to the victim, and accept his mistake.”
