The Supreme Court of South Korea has given its verdict in the group sexual assault case involving former Kpop stars Jung Joon Young and Choi Jong Hoon. Jung has been sentenced to 5-year jail term and Choi will serve 2.5 years of sentence.
The court upheld the decision of the Seoul High Court and rejected the pleas of the singers who had stated that their sexual actions were mutual. The court ruled that both were guilty of taking advantage of the girls in an inebriated state.
Sexual Assault, Secretly Filming Sex Acts
The singers Jung, 31 and Choi, 30, tried to submit a document of reaching a settlement with plaintiff, but could not do so as they lacked the clear evidence to prove it. Both have been convicted of sexually assaulting women during a party they had attended in Hongcheon, Gangwon Province, in January 2016. They are also accused of sexually abusing women during a party in Daegu in March 2016 along with the members of a chat room. The singers and three members of the chat room have been sentenced to jail terms.
Initially, Jung was sentenced to six years and Choi to five years of jail term by a Seoul district court in November, 2019. But both made an appeal to the Seoul High Court that reduced the singer's sentence to five and two-and-a-half year, respectively.
Financial Settlement With Victims
Jung is serving the five-year term because he was not only accused of sexually assaulting the plaintiff but also of secretly filming his sexual act and sending the video to his friends and in mobile chat groups. But the duration of Choi's jail term was reduced as he had reached a financial statement with one of the victims. The Seoul high court had charged both with aggravated quasi-rape and forced sexual harassment case.
Jung and Choi also tried to argue that their conversations in the mobile chat room were illegally obtained by the prosecutors. But Supreme Court rejected their claims and upheld the verdict of the high court. Jung previously worked as a singer, actor, radio DJ and TV personality. Choi, was a member of boy band FT Island.
