'Squid Game' actor Oh Young-soo fully acquitted of sexual misconduct charges

Oh Young-soo, 82, the veteran actor known for playing the "Gganbu grandfather" in the Netflix drama series "Squid Game," has been fully cleared of forced molestation charges. A guilty verdict at trial was overturned on appeal, and despite the victim's condemnation of that ruling as "deplorable," the Supreme Court has now upheld the acquittal.

The Supreme Court's Third Division, presided over by Justice Oh Seok-jun, on Thursday dismissed the prosecution's appeal against the appellate court's not-guilty verdict, confirming the acquittal. The court found the prosecution's grounds for appeal procedurally improper and dismissed the case without further review.

Oh was indicted on charges of twice committing forced molestation: once in August 2017, when he allegedly told the victim, identified only as A, to "let me hug you" and embraced her while the two were staying in a provincial city for a theater performance; and again in September of that year, when he allegedly pressed his lips to her cheek outside her residence as the hallway sensor light went out while she was entering her door code.

At trial, the court found Oh guilty after accepting the victim's testimony as credible. "The victim has testified in a relatively specific and consistent manner — vividly enough that it could not have been fabricated," the court said, adding that entries in the victim's diary and statements she made at a sexual violence counseling center "substantially corroborate the facts of the case and support the credibility of her account." The court also cited Oh's own conduct: he had acknowledged asking her to sit on his bed, entering her apartment under the pretext of carrying her bags, lying on her blanket and saying he "felt a youthful energy," and asking to hug her — and had expressed what the court described as a generally apologetic stance. A diary entry written on the day he allegedly told her she looked like a woman, the court noted, referred to "an episode that must be kept hidden" and said the subject should be "cut off" if it ever came up.

The appellate court, however, reversed the verdict and acquitted Oh.

On the hugging charge, the appellate court said the victim had "reluctantly consented" to Oh's request for a hug, and that the embrace itself had taken place with her consent. The victim argued that Oh had held her more tightly than a collegial hug would warrant, but the court said her account did not clearly establish how much more forceful the embrace was compared with a polite hug, and that the intensity of the hug alone was insufficient to constitute forced molestation.

On the kissing charge, the court said "no investigation was conducted that could corroborate the credibility of the victim's testimony."

The court acknowledged that suspicion remained. "Considering that the victim sought counseling at a sexual violence center about six months after the alleged incidents, informed several close colleagues, and that the defendant apologized in response to a message in which she demanded one, we do have doubts as to whether the defendant committed forced molestation as charged," it said. "However, there is a possibility that the victim's memory became distorted over time, and when doubt remains as to whether the defendant committed the acts as described in the charges, the benefit of the doubt must go to the defendant."

The court also found Oh's apology understandable under the circumstances. "At a time when 'Squid Game' was gaining worldwide popularity, it is somewhat understandable that he apologized before questioning the message the victim sent," the court said. "Given that even the mere disclosure of a sex crime allegation inevitably damages a production, and that correcting the factual record takes considerable time, sending an apology message cannot be seen as unusual."

Immediately after the appellate ruling, the victim pushed back sharply. "The deplorable ruling handed down by the judiciary is a shameful sentence that helps entrench the structures that enable sexual violence and the abuse of power," she said in a statement. "A not-guilty verdict can never neutralize the truth or erase the pain I endured. I ask the judiciary to reflect responsibly on what message this ruling sends to society."

Riding the global success of "Squid Game," Oh became the first Korean actor to win a supporting actor award in the television category at the Golden Globes, in January 2022.