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South Korean actor O Yeong-su, who starred in the first season of the hit Netflix series “Squid Game,” was found guilty Friday of sexual harassment and given a suspended prison sentence, a judicial official said.
The Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Court sentenced O to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, as well as 40 hours of attendance at a sexual violence treatment program, the judicial official said by telephone.
The 79-year-old actor, accused of two counts of sexual harassment in 2017, denied the allegations.
Leaving the court, O told reporters that he planned to appeal the decision. He has seven days to appeal or the ruling will be upheld.
O was formally charged in 2022 and prosecutors had previously requested a one-year prison sentence, according to media reports.
Womenlink, a women’s rights group in South Korea, welcomed the ruling and urged O to apologize to the victim.
“The defendant resembles other perpetrators of sexual violence in the theater in the past who attempted to cover up their sexual violence as ‘favor’ and ‘friendship,'” the group said in a post on X.
O won Best Supporting Television Actor at the Golden Globes for his role in “Squid Game” in 2022, becoming the first South Korean to take the award.
He played the elderly character Oh II-nam, one of the main antagonists of the first season.
Controversy over sexual harassment allegations led him to abandon an upcoming film in South Korea.