A person charged with sexually attacking a woman they hadn’t previously encountered has been sent for court proceedings. In contrast to prosecutors, law enforcement chose not to bring charges against the individual, stating "voluntary sexual activity," which led the victim to initiate legal action and gather proof to dispute the police's choice.
On June 30, the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division 1 under the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, led by Jeong Hee-seon, charged a man in his 30s, referred to as A, with offenses including attempted rape and forced sexual misconduct. It is alleged that A sexually assaulted a woman in her 20s named B on a street in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, during December 2023. As per the findings, A discovered B, who had lost consciousness from excessive drinking and was lying on the road, then transported her to his vehicle where he carried out the offense.
The matter almost remained "unsolved." The police, who initially looked into the case, found no proof of wrongdoing by A and chose not to press charges in May 2024. A captured the event on tape, which featured B stating, "Please do a certain action." According to reports, law enforcement relied on this audio to conclude that the sexual activity was voluntary.
It took more than a year for B to contest the police's choice and ask prosecutors to conduct a new review. When B asked the police for investigative documents to submit an appeal, they declined to provide the details. In the end, B was able to obtain proof, such as surveillance video from when the incident occurred, only after initiating legal action against the denial of information release. With this, B then sought for a reconsideration of the case through prosecutors in September 2025.
The prosecutor's inquiry found that B was in a "unconscious" condition, entirely unaware and incapable of forming regular decisions or speaking during the incident, which made "consensual agreement" unfeasible. Officials additionally verified that A forced B to provide the audio recording as an excuse for his behavior, resulting in charges being filed.