South Korean Woman Acquitted Decades After Self-Defense Conviction
South Korean Woman Acquitted Decades After Self-Defense Conviction
A South Korean court has issued a landmark acquittal for Choi Mal-ja, 79, overturning a decades-old conviction for grievous bodily harm. Ms. Choi was originally sentenced to 10 months in jail at the age of 18 after biting off a portion of a man’s tongue during an alleged sexual assault in 1964.
The ruling comes after a years-long campaign to clear her name, culminating in a retrial that began in July in the southern city of Busan. In an unusual move, prosecutors apologized to Ms. Choi during the first hearing and requested the court quash her original conviction.
Ms. Choi’s case has long been cited in South Korean legal textbooks as a prime example of courts failing to recognize self-defense in sexual violence cases. At the time of the incident, she managed to break free only after biting off 1.5cm of her attacker’s tongue. Despite her actions being a direct response to the assault, she received a harsher sentence than her aggressor, who was given six months and never charged for attempted rape.
Speaking after her acquittal, Ms. Choi expressed her determination to fight for justice. “I could not let this case go unanswered… I [wanted] to stand up for other victims who share the same fate as mine,” she stated, thanking her supporters and criticizing those in power who “abused their authority to trample the weak and manipulate the law.”
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