SEOUL, Aug 30 — The legal team for South Korean actor Oh Young-soo have argued that the sentence meted out where the star was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, in March — was too harsh.
In the first appeal hearing yesterday at the Suwon District Court’s Criminal Appeals Division 6-1, Oh’s lawyer submitted a statement to the court, arguing that “the defendant has faced social judgment, including being removed from several films as a result of this case.”
The 79-year-old had also been ordered to complete 40 hours of classes on sexual violence.
In response to Oh's lawyer stating that they had not yet decided whether to call the victim as a witness, the court responded, “We will proceed with witness examinations during the next session and then decide whether to summon the victim as a witness.”
Oh Young Soo was indicted without detention in November 2022 on charges of forcibly molesting a woman twice, including hugging her on a walking path and kissing her on the cheek in front of her residence during the summer of 2017 while staying in a rural area for a theater performance, reported Allkpop.
The prosecution, which had initially requested a one-year prison sentence, appealed the decision on the grounds of leniency in sentencing.
Meanwhile, Oh Young Soo’s legal team appealed on the grounds of factual errors, legal misunderstandings, and the severity of the sentence.
The next court session is scheduled for October 29.
Oh Young Soo gained global fame in 2021 for his role as the “Gganbu Grandpa” in the Netflix original series Squid Game, which earned him the title of the first Korean actor to win the Best Supporting Actor in Television award at the Golden Globes in 2022.
Following the conviction and suspended prison sentence for forced molestation, he was banned from appearing on KBS in May.
