Oh Yeong Su (age 82) has been acquitted by South Korea's Supreme Court, bringing an end to a legal battle that lasted three years and seven months over allegations of forcible molestation involving a female theater member.
On June 25, the Supreme Court's Third Division, presided over by Justice Oh Seok Jun, dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the appellate court's not-guilty ruling. The court determined that the prosecution's grounds for appeal were procedurally invalid, making the acquittal final.
Oh Yeong Su was indicted without detention in November 2022 on charges of forcibly molesting a female troupe member, identified only as 'A,' on two occasions in 2017. Prosecutors alleged that he hugged her against her will and kissed her on the cheek in front of her residence.
The first trial found Oh Yeong Su guilty, sentencing him to eight months in prison, suspended for two years. The lower court cited the victim's counseling records from a sexual violence support center, conversations with a close colleague, diary entries, and an apology message from Oh Yeong Su as supporting evidence.
However, the appellate court overturned the conviction, emphasizing that a criminal conviction requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. It ruled that when reasonable doubt exists, the benefit must go to the defendant.
While the appeals court acknowledged that there was reason to suspect Oh Yeong Su may have forcibly molested the woman, it also found that her testimony might have been affected by distorted memories.
One issue involved the timeline of the alleged incidents. Counseling records from the sexual violence support center indicated that the hug and kiss occurred on the same day. However, when filing her criminal complaint, the accuser stated that the two incidents happened on different dates.
The appeals court also differed from the first trial in its interpretation of the alleged hug. It found there was reason to believe the woman had at least implicitly consented after Oh reportedly said, "Let's have a hug."
"The act of hugging itself appears to have been consensual," the appellate court stated. "The fact that the hug was stronger than the victim had expected does not, by itself, constitute the crime of forcible molestation."
Regarding the alleged kiss outside the woman's home, she testified that she was entering the passcode to her door when the motion-activated light turned off, leaving the area dark. She claimed that Oh suddenly kissed her on the right cheek.
The appellate court criticized the prosecution's handling of that allegation, noting that prosecutors bear the burden of proving the credibility of the victim's testimony.
"It was never investigated how long the motion sensor light remained on or whether it could have turned off while she was entering the passcode," the court said, pointing to the lack of supporting evidence.
The court also found that Oh's apology message was not necessarily an admission of guilt.
"It appears the defendant understood that apologizing would resolve the matter and prevent it from escalating further," the ruling said. "Viewed in context, the message can reasonably be interpreted as a broad and non-specific apology rather than an acknowledgment of criminal conduct."
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