Prosecution admits fault and apologizes in retrial of 1965 case that punished self-defense during sexual assault attempt

South Korean prosecutors on Wednesday asked the court to acquit a 78-year-old woman in her retrial, 60 years after she was convicted for biting off the tongue of a man who tried to rape her.

Admitting to wrongful prosecution, the prosecutors offered an official apology to Choi Mal-ja.

In 1964, then 18-year-old Choi was subject to sexual attack by a 21-year-old man, surnamed Noh, and she bit off his tongue while defending herself. She was criminally charged and the Busan District Court sentenced her to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, for aggravated bodily injury; her claim of self-defense was dismissed.

Her attacker, while not convicted of a sex crime, received six months in prison, suspended for one year, for trespassing and threat with a weapon.

“The prosecution has concluded that the actions (by Choi) are justifiable as a sex crime victim, and that they are not illegal,” the prosecution said at the hearing for the retrial held at the Busan District Court, demanding the court declare Choi innocent.

The prosecutors said their predecessors failed to protect Choi as a victim from not only the crime, but also from the social prejudice and secondary damage inflicted after she was convicted.

The prosecution in the past case had requested a prison term for Choi in October of 1964, before the ruling the following year.

“The prosecution in the past case failed to do its duty and went the wrong way. As a result, (the prosecution in the past) inflicted unimaginable pain and suffering on Choi Mal-ja. For this, we apologize,” the prosecution said at the hearing.

Choi Mal-ja’s case is considered among the worst miscarriages of justice involving a sex crime in Korea, where her attempt to protect herself was wrongfully labeled an act of brutality.

In the trial, she was accused by the prosecutors of crippling the man — despite him not sustaining a permanent disability — and the court allegedly attempted to persuade her to marry her attacker. The litigation and settlement with Noh for the injuries led to a substantial financial burden on the family, and Noh continued to harass her family even throughout the trials.

She was also subject to the social stigma of having a criminal record.

In 2020, Choi requested a retrial in the Busan court, which was rejected the following year. The court said, “There is no clear evidence to prove her innocence, and we cannot overrule a verdict just because the social, cultural backgrounds have changed.”

But Choi continued to pursue the case, appealing to the Supreme Court in May of 2023.

In June that year, in an interview with The Korea Herald, she said, “The court made me — the victim — the attacker. I knew nothing about the law, but I knew that I had been wronged.”

South Korea’s highest court sided with her in December, ordering the case to be redeliberated.

Ms Choi Mal-ja was attacked by a 21-year-old man, who tried to rape her near her home, in 1964.

SEOUL – A 78-year-old woman who received a suspended prison sentence for fighting off an attempted rapist will have another chance at justice, as a Busan court said on Feb 13 it has decided to hold a retrial for her case that was sentenced 60 years ago.

The Busan High Court accepted Ms Choi Mal-ja’s appeal against its earlier decision not to hold a retrial on the case.

Ms Choi had initially requested a retrial with the Busan District Court – which originally sentenced her to a suspended prison term in 1965 – but the court declined, saying there was no clear evidence to prove her innocence.

The Busan High Court upheld the earlier decision, but Ms Choi took the case to the Supreme Court, which in December 2024 ordered the appellate court to review the case once more. South Korea’s highest court noted a high possibility that Ms Choi had been subjected to illegal detention during her investigation between 1964 and 1965.

“The testimony (of Ms Choi) is specific and consistent… The court cannot find unnatural or unreasonable parts in (Ms Choi’s) motivations to request a retrial,” the High Court said. “There are enough grounds to believe that there had been unlawful arrest and detention without warrant, as dictated by the Criminal Procedure Act.”

On May 6, 1964, the then 18-year-old Ms Choi was attacked by a 21-year-old man surnamed Noh, who tried to rape her near her home. In the process, Ms Choi bit off 1.5cm of her attacker’s tongue.

Ms Choi claimed self-defence against the attack, but the court found her guilty of violating Article 258 of the Criminal Act – aggravated bodily injury on another. She was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, while her attacker was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years.

“I said I did nothing wrong, and (the prosecutor) said if I didn’t comply, I would have to spend the rest of my life in jail,” Ms Choi said in a 2020 interview with The Korea Herald. She said the prosecutor accused her of refusing to take responsibility for crippling a man, and even attempted to coerce her into marrying the attacker, which she did not.

Ms Choi later found out that her father had used the bulk of the family’s savings for a settlement with Mr Noh to win leniency for her punishment. Ms Choi said Mr Noh continued to harass her family, even breaking into their home and threatening her and her older sister with a knife.

A story on May 20, 1973, in the now-defunct Sunday Seoul magazine confirms Ms Choi’s claim about the court trying to pair her up with Mr Noh, saying the judge “persuaded the two families by saying, ‘(The victim) is already damaged, so it would be better for the two to be paired up and live happily’”.

Ms Choi restarted her education in the 2000s, enrolling in Korea National Open University in 2013.

In pursuing her education, Ms Choi said she realised the extent of the injustice she suffered, which motivated her to fight to reopen her case with assistance from Korea Woman’s Hotline, a local group that supports victims of sexual violence. THE KOREA HERALD/ASIA NEWS NETWORK

Thai woman arrested for blackmailing monks with thousands of videos after sex

7 days ago Share Save Jiraporn Sricham and Koh Ewe BBC News Reporting from Thailand and Singapore Share Save

Getty Images Thailand’s Buddhist institution has faced scrutiny for misbehaving monks

Thai police have arrested a woman who allegedly had sexual relations with monks, and then used photos and videos of the acts to extort money from them. The woman, who police are calling “Ms Golf”, had sex with at least nine monks, police said at a press conference on Tuesday. They believe she received around 385 million baht ($11.9m; £8.8m) over the past three years. Investigators who searched her house found more than 80,000 photos and videos used to blackmail the monks, the police spokesman said. This scandal is the latest to rock Thailand’s much revered Buddhist institution, which in recent years has been plagued with allegations of monks engaging in sex offences and drug trafficking.

Police said the case first came to their attention in mid-June, when they learned that an abbot in Bangkok had suddenly left the monkhood after being extorted by a woman. Ms Golf “had a relationship” with the monk in May 2024, police said. She later claimed to have his baby and demanded child support of more than seven million baht, they added. Authorities then discovered that other monks had similarly transferred money to Ms Golf – which police called her “modus operandi”. Police added they found that nearly all of the money has been withdrawn and some of it had been used for online gambling. When investigators searched Ms Golf’s house earlier this month, they seized her phones and found more than 80,000 photos and videos that she had used to blackmail the monks, police said. She is facing multiple charges including extortion, money laundering and receiving stolen goods. The police have also opened a hotline for people to report “misbehaving monks”.

Thai News Pix Police found more than 80,000 photos and videos on Ms Golf’s phone, which she used to blackmail the monks

Apology for S Korean woman convicted of biting man’s tongue as he attacked her

2 hours ago Share Save Ian Aikman BBC News Share Save

EPA

Prosecutors in South Korea have apologised to a woman who was convicted for defending herself during a sexually violent attack more than 60 years ago. Choi Mal-ja was sentenced to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, for biting off part of her attacker’s tongue as he allegedly tried to rape her in 1964, when she was 18 years old. Inspired by the country’s #MeToo movement, Ms Choi, now 78, has campaigned for years to have her conviction overturned. Her retrial began in the city of Busan on Wednesday, where prosecutors issued an apology and asked for the court to quash her guilty verdict.

“For 61 years, the state made me live as a criminal,” Ms Choi told reporters outside the court ahead of the hearing. She said she hoped future generations could live a happy life free from sexual violence. At the start of the trial, Busan’s Chief Prosecutor Jeong Myeong-won said “we sincerely apologise”. “We have caused Choi Mal-ja, a victim of a sex crime who should have been protected as one, indescribable pain and agony.” A final ruling is scheduled for 10 September, with legal observers expecting the court to overturn Ms Choi’s conviction. Outside the courtroom after the hearing, Ms Choi raised her fist and said: “We won!” She celebrated by embracing campaigners from civic organisations who were there to support her.

In 1964, an 18-year-old Choi Mal-ja was attacked by a 21-year-old man, who forced his tongue into her mouth as he pinned her to the ground in the southern town of Gimhae, according to court records. Ms Choi escaped the attack by biting off 1.5cm (0.59in) of the aggressor’s tongue. The man was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for two years, for trespassing and intimidation. He was never convicted of attempted rape. Ms Choi was given a harsher sentence than her attacker for causing him grievous bodily harm. The court at the time said her actions had exceeded the “reasonable bounds” of self-defence. Ms Choi’s case has since been cited in legal textbooks in South Korea as a classic example of a court failing to recognise self-defence during sexual violence.

‘Justice is alive in this country’