"Natural physical contact is not indecent" Military court ruling overturned Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has ruled that the military court's acquittal was wrong, saying that natural physical contact cannot be regarded as sexual assault.

The first division of the Supreme Court (Chief Justice Park Jeong-hwa) returned the case to the Higher Military Court, overturning the original judgment of innocence in the appeals trial of A, a former officer of the Army Student Military School, who was charged with forcible molestation such as a soldier.

Person A was sent to trial on charges of forcibly molesting Mr. B, a female non-commissioned officer, who was a subordinate, saying, "I have to build memories. I have to carry you," and grabbed Mr. B's hands and put it on his shoulder.

At a forest bathing site, Mr. A hugged Mr. B, saying, "Come into the water," and held his hand behind Mr. B, saying that he taught him to swing baseball at the screen baseball field.

In response, the first trial recognized A's behavior as forced indecent, and at the same time sentenced him to 2 years in prison and 3 years of probation in addition to the charges of trespassing.

However, the second trial judged not guilty of the charge of sexual assault, saying, "The defendant's conduct is an objectively natural physical contact that is expected and cannot be regarded as an act that significantly violates the right to sexual self-determination."

The second trial court ruled, "The fact that the defendant, who is the superior, touched the body of the victim, who is the subordinate, should not be immediately concluded that it was sexual assault."

The charge of trespassing was also acquitted because there was no proof of the crime.

The Supreme Court also dismissed the appeal on the charge of trespassing, saying there was no misunderstanding in the judgment of the lower court.

However, the judgment of the lower court was mistaken for misunderstanding the legal principle, saying that the allegation of sexual assault was "an act that objectively causes sexual shame or disgust and is contrary to the sexual moral concept only by the act acknowledged by the accused."