'Squid Game' actor found guilty of sexual misconduct for inappropriately touching a woman
A "Squid Game" star was given an eight-month suspended sentence for sexual misconduct.
Oh Young-soo was found guilty of inappropriately hugging a female actor.
The 79-year-old said he planned to appeal the ruling.
"Squid Game" actor Oh Young-soo was convicted of sexual misconduct by a South Korean court on Friday.
A district court judge in Seongnam, near the South Korean capital Seoul, ruled that Oh was guilty of inappropriate behavior with a female actor in 2017, The New York Times reported.
Oh, who rose to international fame after starring in the hugely popular Netflix drama, was given an eight-month suspended sentence.
He has also been ordered to complete 40 hours of classes on sexual violence, per the report.
The 79-year-old has denied the charges and told reporters that he planned to appeal the verdict.
The charges were first brought against Oh in 2022, the same year he became the first South Korean to win a best supporting actor Golden Globe for his role as Oh Il-nam in the hit series.
Prosecutors said that Oh had hugged and kissed the unnamed actor on the cheek on a number of occasions across August and September of 2017 and that he had also made lewd sexual comments to her, The Times reported.
The judge said the victim's claims were "consistent" and "appear to be statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them."
"I just held her hand to guide the way around the lake. I apologized because [the person] said she wouldn't make a fuss about it but it doesn't mean that I admit the charges," the actor previously said to South Korean broadcaster JTBC about the incident, per Variety.
Aside from his role in "Squid Game," Oh has appeared in more than 200 plays since the late 1960s, but the court case has impacted his career, The Times reported.
The actor has not been named among the actors returning for season two of "Squid Game," which will be released later this year.
The series, which spawned a reality show spinoff, sees cash-strapped contestants take part in deadly versions of traditional children's games in an attempt to win a huge sum of money.
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