Squid Game actor O Yeong-su found guilty of sexual misconduct

Korean actor Oh Yeong-su in Squid Game. He has been found guilty of sexual misconduct after being charged with assaulting a woman in 2017. Photo / Netflix

Warning: mention of sexual assault

Squid Game star O Yeong-su has been found guilty of sexual misconduct, a South Korean court has revealed, after he was charged with assaulting a woman in 2017.

In 2022, the 79-year-old became the first South Korean to win a Golden Globe Award. The actor won Best Supporting Actor in a Series for his role as Player No 001, a seemingly vulnerable old man who plays in the Squid Games.

The breakout star was sentenced to eight months in jail and suspended for two years, the Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court confirmed to AFP yesterday.

The court further ordered O Yeong-su to attend 40 hours of classes on sexual violence, reports news.com.au.

The victim’s recollection of the assault and her allegations against the actor are “consistent ... and appear to be statements that cannot be made without actually experiencing them”, judge Jeong Yeon-ju said, the court reveals.

O Yeong-su starred as Player No 001 in the South Korean survival horror-drama Squid Game. Photo / Netflix

In 2022, O Yeong-su was indicted without detention on charges of sexually assaulting a woman on two occasions. The victim has not been identified.

The abuse happened in 2017 when O Yeong-su was living in a rural area while doing a theatre performance. Reports reveal the victim was assaulted twice, once on a walking path and once in front of her home, according to the Suwon District Court.

Squid Game is a Netflix show that follows a group of people who are so desperate for money that they accept an invitation to compete in child-like games for a big cash prize. However, when the stakes become deadly, the series becomes a dystopian nightmare.

The series quickly gained traction on the streaming platform and within less than a month of its release in 2021, it attracted a mind-blowing 111 million viewers.

Squid Game’s success has seen South Korea’s influence on worldwide pop culture skyrocket, with the likes of K-pop band BTS and the Oscar-winning movie Parasite achieving fame on a global scale.

A number of prominent figures in South Korea’s film industry, such as late filmmaker Kim Ki-duk and actor Cho Jae-hyun, have been accused of sexual assault.