Squid Game star, O Yeong-su, 79, is convicted of sexual harassment after forcefully kissing and groping a theatre colleague

South Korea’s ‘Squid Game’ actor, O Yeong-su has been found guilty of sexual misconduct after he was charged with assaulting a woman in 2017.

The actor, who in 2022 became the first South Korean to win a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor in the series, was sentenced to eight months in prison, and suspended for two years, the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court reported.

He has been also ordered to complete 40 hours of classes on sexual violence, the court added.

The victim’s own records of the assault and her claims are ‘consistent … and appear to be statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them,’ judge Jeong Yeon-ju said, according to the court.

As he was leaving the court, O told reporters he planned to appeal against the decision. He has seven days to appeal or the ruling will be upheld. 

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O was indicted in 2022 without detention on charges of sexually assaulting a woman, who has not been identified, on two occasions.

The incidents took place when O was staying in a rural area for a theatre performance in 2017, on a walking path and in front of the victim’s residence, respectively, according to the Suwon District Court.

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Womenlink, a women’s rights group in South Korea, welcomed the ruling and urged O to apologise to the victim.

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‘The defendant resembles other offenders of sexual violence in theatre in the past who tried to cover up their sexual violence as ‘favour’ and ‘friendship’,’ the group said in a post on X.

The controversy over the accusations of sexual harassment saw him drop out of an upcoming film in South Korea. 

O won best supporting actor in television at the Golden Globes for his role in ‘Squid Game’ in 2022, becoming the first South Korean to snatch the award.

He played the elderly character O II-nam, one of the main antagonists of the first season.