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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
William Mata

Squid Game actor O Yeong-Su convicted of sexual harassment

Golden Globe winning Squid Game actor O Yeong-Su has been given an eight month suspended prison sentence after being convicted of sexual harassment.

The 79-year-old South Korean, best known for playing Oh Il-nam in the Netflix series, was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a woman twice.

Mr O had denied the claims, which date back to 2017, and has seven days to appeal the verdict - which AFP reports that he intends on doing. 

A South Korea court convicted him over allegations that he hugged a woman and kissed her on the cheek against her will while he was staying in a rural area for a theatre performance.

The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court additionally ordered Mr O to attend 40 hours of classes on sexual violence.

Squid Game

Prosecutors had previously sought a sentence of one year in prison, according to media reports.

Womenlink, a women's rights group in South Korea, welcomed the ruling and urged Mr O to apologise to the victim.

Mr O won best supporting actor in television at the Golden Globes for his role in Squid Game in 2022, becoming the first South Korean to snatch the award.

His elderly character Oh II-nam is one of the main antagonists of the first season.

The controversy over the accusations of sexual harassment saw him dropping out of an upcoming film in South Korea.

A long-awaited second series of Squid Game has already been put back and had previously been slated for 2023.

New cast members joining the second season include Yang Dong-Geun, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-Hoon and Si-wan Yim.

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