'Forced Kiss Tongue Severed' Prosecutors Apologize to Choe Malja for Indescribable Pain and Suffering

[Financial News]  Choe Malja (78), who was convicted of serious injury for biting the tongue of a man who attempted to rape her, was acquitted in a retrial held 61 years later.
Busan District Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judge Kim Hyun-sun) acquitted Choe of charges including serious injury on the afternoon of the 10th.
Judge Kim stated, "There is insufficient evidence to recognize serious injury," and ruled that "the defendant's actions are recognized as self-defense." 
Choe, who was 18 years old in May 1964, was sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence at Busan District Court for biting off approximately 1.5 cm of the tongue of Mr. No (then 21 years old), who attempted to rape her.
Choe claimed it was self-defense against the attempted rape, but the court did not accept it at the time.
At that time, Mr. No was only charged with special residential intrusion and special threats, excluding attempted rape, and received a lighter sentence of 6 months in prison with a 2-year suspended sentence compared to Choe.
Choe courageously filed for a retrial in May 2020, 56 years after the incident, but the Busan District Court and Busan High Court dismissed the request, stating there was no evidence to support Choe's claim that the prosecutor illegally detained her and coerced a confession during the investigation.
However, the Supreme Court, after more than three years of deliberation, found sufficient circumstances to believe Choe's claim and ordered the case to be remanded for further fact-finding, including reviewing the retrial target judgment, newspaper articles, inmate lists, criminal case records, and execution records.
In February this year, the Busan High Court accepted the appeal against the decision to dismiss the retrial of Choe's serious injury case.
On July 23, the Busan District Prosecutor's Office stated at the retrial's closing argument, "The prosecution has concluded that the actions of the sexual assault victim in this case are justified and do not constitute illegality," and sought acquittal.
The prosecution further explained, "The role of the prosecution is to protect crime victims not only from the crime itself but also from social prejudice and secondary harm," and admitted, "In the past, the prosecution failed to fulfill that role and went in the opposite direction."
The prosecution referred to Choe not as 'defendant' but as 'Choe Malja-nim' and apologized, saying, "We caused indescribable pain and suffering to Choe Malja-nim, who should have been protected as a victim of sexual assault."


425_sama@fnnews.com Choe Seunghan Reporter