Convicted of aggravated indecent assault, confidentiality violation under sex crimes law

Appeals court: 'The nature of the crimes is poor — severe punishment is warranted'

Attorney Jung Cheol-seung. [Yonhap]
Attorney Jung Cheol-seung. [Yonhap]

Attorney Jung Cheol-seung, who faces charges of disclosing the identity of the victim in the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's sexual violence case and groping a junior colleague, was sentenced to prison on appeal Friday.

The Seoul High Court's Criminal Division 4-2, presided over by Chief Judge Seong Ji-yong, sentenced Jung to one year and six months in prison on charges including aggravated indecent assault, violation of confidentiality obligations under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes, and defamation under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection. The court ordered Jung taken into custody immediately upon sentencing.

On the groping charge, the court said "the evidence of guilt appears sufficient," adding that the victim's testimony, closed-circuit television footage and statements from a witness present at the time were "consistent, detailed, specific and free of contradictions, making it difficult to regard them as false."

On the confidentiality violation charge, the court said the disclosed posts contained detailed records of the victim's employment history at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, meaning "anyone reading them could identify the victim," and that the conduct "clearly constitutes a violation of the sex crimes punishment act."

On sentencing, the court said "the nature of the indecent assault is poor and caused secondary harm to the victim," and that "the harm to the defamation victim is also not light." It added that while Jung may have acted defensively out of a sense of injustice, "the circumstances following the offenses are also unfavorable," and that "imposing severe punishment is the unanimous opinion of all members of this court."

The court also criticized Jung's conduct after the incidents came to light, saying the case would not have escalated to this point had Jung shown even a minimal expression of remorse — such as acknowledging that a mistake may have occurred — when the groping victim first raised the issue.

Prosecutors had asked the court in June to sentence Jung to six years in prison during closing arguments in the appeals trial.

In a final statement at the time, Jung maintained innocence, saying it "defies common sense" that an assault could have taken place at a first meeting in the open hall of a wine bar. Jung also denied the confidentiality violation charge, saying the posts summarized the findings of a government investigation and did not spread fabricated facts.

Jung is accused of groping and injuring a fellow attorney at a wine bar in Seoul in March 2023, the first time the two had met. The charges include repeated acts of assault on the victim's body despite clear signs of refusal.

Jung also faces charges of posting information identifying the victim in the Park Won-soon sexual violence case on social media. Investigators found that the posts revealed the victim's identity by including details such as the dates of the victim's appointment and promotion as a Seoul city civil servant and workplace assignments by year.

In the first trial, each case resulted in a one-year prison sentence. The two cases were consolidated and heard together on appeal.


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