"The apology message was for 'Squid Game' producers"
Eight months in prison with two years probation in first trial
Actor Oh Young-soo is leaving after the first trial sentencing hearing on charges of sexual assault on the 15th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News
The prosecution has requested the same sentence of one year in prison as in the first trial for actor Oh Young-soo (81), who was sentenced to a suspended prison term in the first trial for forcibly molesting a woman twice in 2017. However, Oh denies the charges, saying, "My 80 years of life have collapsed," according to Yonhap News.
According to Yonhap, at the sentencing hearing for Oh's forced molestation case held on the 3rd at the Suwon District Court Criminal Appeal Division 6 (Presiding Judges Kwak Hyung-seop, Kim Eun-jung, Kang Hee-kyung), the prosecution stated, "The defendant has not been forgiven by the victim and instead claims that the victim is making false statements," and requested a severe sentence.
They added, "The defendant is a veteran actor with 50 years of activity in the theater world who committed sexual harassment against powerless rehearsal members," and "The victim is living daily life in fear, including at work," explaining the reason for the prosecution's request.
On the other hand, Oh Young-soo's side has consistently denied the charges. Oh's lawyer argued in the final defense, "The victim's testimony, the only evidence of the indictment, lacks consistency and specificity, and the testimony itself is contradictory," and "It goes against common sense and experience and contradicts objective facts such as third-party testimonies."
They also explained, "The first trial believed the guilty verdict was due to the apology message the defendant sent to the victim, but when 'Squid Game' became a hot topic upon its release, the victim suddenly demanded an apology, which was embarrassing, but it was a formal apology to avoid harming the actors and producers."
Oh, dressed in a suit, appeared in court and said, "I am ashamed to stand in court at this age. If my words and actions at that time were wrong and constitute a crime, I will accept the consequences," adding, "However, even now, I believe there was nothing in my words and actions at that time that could be considered molestation."
Meanwhile, Oh was indicted without detention in November 2022 on charges of forcibly molesting a woman, Ms. A, twice in the summer of 2017 while staying in the provinces for a theater performance?hugging her on a walking trail and kissing her on the cheek in front of her residence. In March of last year, the first trial sentenced him to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence. The appeal trial sentencing is scheduled for June 3 at 2 p.m.
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