Korean actor Oh Yeong-su, internationally recognized for his role in Squid Game and the first Korean actor to win a Golden Globe, has had his sexual misconduct acquittal confirmed by the Supreme Court — ending a legal process that began with his indictment in November 2022. Here are the key points.

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Background

– Oh Yeong-su was accused of groping a woman, identified as A, on two occasions in the summer of 2017 while both were in a regional city for a theatrical production — once hugging her on a walking path and once kissing her on the cheek outside her residence.
– He was indicted in November 2022. Prosecutors argued he had expressed his behavior as “a twisted expression of longing for youth” and that his apology text, which characterized the victim as “like a daughter,” showed an attempt to deflect responsibility.
– Oh maintained throughout that the evidence was insufficient — consisting primarily of the victim’s testimony.

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Court Journey

– The trial court convicted Oh and sentenced him to eight months in prison with two years of probation.
– The appellate court reversed, acquitting Oh entirely. It noted that A had waited approximately six months after the incidents before seeking counseling and disclosing the events to close colleagues. It also noted that Oh had sent an apology when A requested one. The court found that while suspicion of misconduct could not be entirely dismissed, the possibility that A’s memory had been distorted by the passage of time meant reasonable doubt existed — and that doubt must be resolved in the defendant’s favor.
– The prosecution appealed to the Supreme Court, but the Supreme Court (Division 3) dismissed the appeal on June 25, 2026, confirming the acquittal. Oh’s not-guilty verdict is now final.

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Key Takeaways

– The reasonable doubt standard in Korean criminal law applies fully to sexual misconduct cases where the primary evidence is victim testimony: where the court finds the testimony credible but acknowledges the possibility of memory distortion over time, that doubt must benefit the defendant.
– A delayed disclosure — here, approximately six months — is not in itself disqualifying, but it can be a factor courts weigh when assessing testimonial reliability alongside other circumstances.
– An apology from a defendant, while relevant context, does not by itself constitute an admission of criminal guilt — its weight depends on the framing and circumstances in which it was given.
– The Supreme Court’s role in cases like this is primarily to assess whether the appellate court’s legal reasoning was sound, not to re-evaluate the factual findings. Where the appellate court applied the correct legal standard and reached a defensible conclusion, the Supreme Court will not intervene.

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Why This Matters

Beyond the individual case, the Oh Yeong-su acquittal arrives at a moment of ongoing national debate in Korea about how courts handle sexual misconduct allegations that rest heavily on victim testimony without corroborating physical or documentary evidence. For practitioners, the case illustrates the weight courts place on the reasonable doubt standard even in cases where the accused’s conduct is described as morally suspect, and underscores that suspicion — even well-founded suspicion — is not sufficient for a criminal conviction.

Article: https://www.hankyung.com/article/2026062607097