The 81-year-old actor had initially been sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, along with 40 hours of mandatory sexual violence treatment.
South Korean actor O Yeong‑su, known for his role in Netflix series Squid Game, has been acquitted on appeal of charges of indecent assault stemming from an alleged incident in 2017.
The 81-year-old actor had initially been found guilty in 2024 by the Suwon District Court of indecent assault against a younger female theatre actor, whom he was accused of hugging and kissing.
The victim’s testimony was deemed credible and O was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, along with 40 hours of mandatory sexual violence treatment.
On Tuesday (Nov 11), the court overturned the conviction, citing “reasonable doubt” about the nature of the alleged act.
“The intensity of the hug and the specific nature of the act are not clearly established, making it difficult to conclude that indecent assault occurred based on that alone,” the court said, as reported by Korea JoongAng Daily.
The court added the victim’s memory “may have been distorted over time” and concluded that the evidence was insufficient for a criminal conviction.
Throughout the proceedings, O denied the charges.
“If my words or actions were inappropriate at the time, I will take responsibility, but I did nothing that could be considered indecent,” he said.
Following the verdict, the victim shared a statement, calling the acquittal “a shameful decision that reinforces the systemic structure of sexual violence and hierarchical abuse”.
She added: “Despite today’s ruling, I will continue to speak the truth to the very end. The non-guilty verdict cannot invalidate the truth or erase the pain I have suffered. The judiciary must seriously reflect on what message this ruling sends to society.”
Prosecutors have one week to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
O rose to international fame in 2021 for his performance as Oh Il-nam, or Player 001, in Squid Game, a role that earned him the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series in 2022, making him the first Korean actor to win in that category. He was edited out of the film Big Family and barred from appearing on Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) programmes following the charges.
