Netizens have slammed judge Oh Deon Shik for watching the Goo Hara sex tape. Kim Byung Soo, the chief criminal officer of the Seoul Central District Court, explained that the judge did not have any choice but to watch the video as he was dealing with the case.
The case relates to a video that was filmed by late Goo's ex-boyfriend Choi Jong Bum (also her then hairdresser). He had threatened her and her label chief with releasing the video, bringing to an end Goo's acting career.
Goo's lawyer stated that even if the judge happened to see the video in private, it was a second round of assault (on Goo Hara) as there were reproductions of the video that were being watched even after two years.
After watching the video, judge Oh had held Choi guilty of blackmailing. But he had said that it was hard to say that the video was filmed against Goo's consent.
But in September 2019, both the defence and the prosecution filed appeals and the case was moved to a second trial.
Suicide
The next hearing of Choi's trial is on May 21. As Hara committed suicide on November 24, 2019, her brother sought justice and requested a fair sentence to the guilty in the case.
Earlier, Choi had claimed that he was in 90% of the video and Hara was fully clothed whereas he was not wearing any clothes. So, there was nothing to threaten Hara with.
The incident is doing the rounds also for another reason. It is claimed that Choi not only threatened Hara, but also the head of her label and demanded that he knelt before him and apologized to him.
After the hearing, Choi was sentenced to three-year probation for intimidation, assault, coercion and property damage.
The first case was filed by Choi against Goo in September 2018, alleging that Hara had assaulted him after both got into an altercation on September 13 that year. But Goo stated that Choi had threatened and blackmailed her telling he would release the sex tape.
After the hearing, Goo had received suspension of indictment whereas Choi's case went on trial.
Her brother Goo Ho In expressed his disappointment over Choi not showing any remorse and wrote on Instagram: "My family and many people who cherished and loved Hara are furious at Choi's shameless behavior. Unfortunately, the punishment for dating violence in our country is too lenient and weak when it comes to protecting the victim. We sincerely hope that at least in the second trial, a just sentence will be served to the person who committed a horrible crime."
