O Yeong-su, Squid Game Actor, Acquitted of Sexual Assault Charges
According to CinemaDrame News Agency, O Yeong-su, the actor from Squid Game, has been acquitted of sexual assault charges by an appellate court in South Korea. Yonhap reported that the Suwon District Court had previously found the 81-year-old actor guilty of hugging and kissing a woman on the cheek without her consent during a performance in 2017. The complaint was filed in December 2021, and the authorities initially closed the case in April 2022, but it was reopened at the request of the plaintiff.
The appellate court stated that, despite suspicions of sexual misconduct, several factors influenced the ruling, including that the plaintiff sought sexual violence counseling six months after the incident and that O Yeong-su apologized at her request. The court noted that the woman’s memory might have been flawed over time and emphasized that in cases of doubt, the rights of the accused must be protected.
Previously, O Yeong-su had been sentenced to eight months in prison by the Suwon District Court, with the sentence suspended for two years. He denied the allegations at the time and appealed the verdict. The original ruling also required him to attend a 40-hour specialized treatment program for sexual offenders.
O Yeong-su explained that he had only held the woman’s hand to guide her around the lake: “I apologized because she said it wouldn’t cause a fuss, but that doesn’t mean I admitted to the charge.”
O Yeong-su won the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Oh Il-nam in Squid Game and was also nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for the same role.
