The photos are not directly related to the article. Getty Images Bank
A former high-ranking National Intelligence Service official charged with sexually harassing a female contract employee while dispatched to the Korean Consulate General in Los Angeles, California has been sentenced to a fine.
On the 31st, Judge Lim Gwang-ho, the 20th criminal in the Seoul Central District Court, sentenced Mr. He also ordered the completion of 40 hours of a sexual assault treatment program.
Mr. A was sent to the Consulate General of Los Angeles and was charged with inappropriate physical contact several times while supporting employee B, who was intoxicated after a dinner in June 2020, when he was serving as a deputy consulate-general. Person A was also accused of forcibly molesting Mr. B by taking him to the consulate. At the end of July of that year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs repatriated Mr. A to Korea, and the prosecution charged Mr. A without detention on charges of sexual harassment.
Person A denied the charges in court, saying, “(The physical contact) did not fall under forced sexual assault and there was no criminal intent.”
On the morning of November 3, 2020, the National Intelligence Service audit is in progress at the National Intelligence Service in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul. The picture is the NIS logo. Parliamentary photojournalists
Judge Lim, however, saw that the physical contact that Mr. A made while supporting Mr. B was considered indecent assault. Judge Lim pointed out, “After confirming the actions of the accused to the victim through CCTV, it goes beyond the level of trying to help the intoxicated victim.” .
However, the court applied the charge of quasi-forced molestation instead of forced molestation. This is to the point that it cannot be said that Mr. A committed the crime against Mr. B’s will because Mr. B was intoxicated. The charge of quasi-forced molestation is applied when the molestation is committed using a state of loss of mind or inability to resist. The reason for the mitigation was that the degree of sexual harassment was not heavy, that Mr. A was also drunk to some extent, and that there was room for improvement.
Judge Lim acquitted Mr. A for touching Mr. B’s breast on the grounds of insufficient evidence. A retired from the National Intelligence Service last year.
Park Jun-gyu reporter ssangkkal@hankookilbo.com
