Composer Yoo Jae-hwan. [Herald DB]
Composer Yoo Jae-hwan. [Herald DB]

Composer and broadcaster Yoo Jae-hwan, 36, received the same fine on appeal Thursday that he was handed at trial for groping a woman he had met for the first time.

The third criminal division of Seoul Southern District Court held the appeal sentencing hearing for Yoo on Thursday afternoon. The court dismissed appeals filed by both the prosecution and the defendant.

The court said the victim "testified consistently on key points from the investigation stage through the first-trial proceedings, and the content was specific enough that it is difficult to conclude she fabricated events she did not experience." It added that her credibility was supported by objective evidence — including her live reenactment of the incident during testimony and the content of conversations and phone calls she had with a witness surnamed Jeong immediately after the incident — all of which corroborated her account.

Addressing the defense's argument that parts of the victim's testimony were inconsistent, the court said it is "a natural phenomenon for specific wording to change over time, and that alone cannot negate the overall credibility of the victim's testimony."

The court said that "taken together, these circumstances show the first court was justified in finding the charges proven based on the victim's testimony," and that the original sentence appeared to have weighed both favorable and unfavorable factors for the defendant, with no special grounds to change it.

Yoo faces charges of groping a woman he met after posting on his social media in June 2023 offering to compose music for people free of charge.

The first trial, held in November last year, sentenced Yoo to a fine of 5 million won ($3,360) and ordered him to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program. Prosecutors appealed, arguing the sentence was too lenient, while Yoo's side appealed on grounds of factual error and improper sentencing.


newday@heraldcorp.com