Squid Game actor found guilty of sexual misconduct

Squid Game actor O Yeong-Su has been given an eight-month suspended prison sentence for sexual misconduct by a court in South Korea.

The 79-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a woman twice.

The assaults took place five years earlier when O was staying in a rural area for a theatre performance in 2017, AFP reported the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court as saying.

O has said he will appeal against the verdict and has seven days to do so.

The allegations were that he hugged a woman and kissed her on the cheek against her will, the Yonhap news agency reported.

O has also been ordered to attend classes on sexual violence, it has been reported.

According to AFP, judge Jeong Yeon-ju said the victim’s records of the assault and her claims were “consistent … and appear to be statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them”.

O had denied the claims which, according to Suwon District Court, took place on a walking path and in front of the victim’s residence.

The actor rose to international fame after starring in Squid Game, a dystopian drama that sees contestants take part in deadly versions of traditional children’s games.

It was a huge and unexpected hit on Netflix – attracting more than 100 million viewers around the world within weeks of its release in 2021.

The following year O became the first South Korean actor to win a Golden Globe for his role as Oh Il-nam, the oldest participant