‘Rapist’s tongue severed’ Ms. Choi Mal-ja, wrongful imprisonment… Acquitted in a retrial after 61 years, this year’s top stepping-stone ruling

MINBYUN (Lawyers for a Democratic Society) and the Kyunghyang Shinmun selected the ‘acquittal in the retrial of Ms. Choi Mal-ja’ as this year’s bes...

MINBYUN and the Kyunghyang Shinmun selected the ‘acquittal in the retrial of Ms. Choi Mal-ja’ as this year’s best stepping-stone ruling. Ms. Choi , who had been convicted after biting a rapist’s tongue, was acquitted in a retrial 61 years later when her act was recognized as self-defense.

The worst stumbling-block ruling was the Supreme Court judgment in a lawsuit filed by SK Telecom subscribers that, by finding pseudonymization is not ‘processing,’ denied data subjects’ right to demand suspension of processing. The ‘Constitutional Court’s decision upholding the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk-yeol’ and the ‘Seoul Central District Court’s decision canceling the detention of former President Yoon,’ which had the greatest impact on Korean society in 2025, were selected separately as stepping-stone and stumbling-block rulings, apart from the Top 10. The ‘2025 Top 10 Stepping-Stone·Stumbling-Block Rulings Selection Committee’ chose ten each based on recommendations of rulings and decisions by courts at all levels and the Constitutional Court from 12 committees within MINBYUN and others. It evaluated rulings and decisions issued between November 1 of last year and October 31 of this year, using as key criteria the characteristics of each case, differences from existing precedents, social impact, and contributions to the promotion of human rights. ◇2025 Top 10 Stepping-Stone·Stumbling-Block Rulings Selection Committee=Cho Suk-hyeon, head of MINBYUN’s Public Interest and Human Rights Litigation Center, served as chair. Participating as selection committee members were attorney Cho Ji-hoon , attorney Lee Hyeong-jun , Lee Ji-hyun, secretary-general of People’s Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Jang Ye-jung, standing activist of the Catholic Human Rights Committee, Kim Hye-jung, head of the Korea Sexual Violence Relief Center, Oh Jin-ho, activist at Workplace Gapjil 119, Yoo Seung-ik, professor at Handong University, Oh Dong-seok, professor at Ajou University, Lee Seung-hoon, co-operating chair of the Korean Civil Society Organizations Network, and Kim Jeong-hwa, reporter at the Kyunghyang Shinmun. On the 8th, MINBYUN will hold the ‘Korean Human Rights Report Conference’ to announce the results of the selection and to hold forums on major human rights issues. Ms. Choi Mal-ja, who had been convicted for biting a rapist’s tongue, rejoices, shouting “We won” after being acquitted in a retrial at the Busan District Court on September 23, 61 years later. Yonhap NewsBusan District Court Criminal Division 5 acquitted Ms. Choi in a retrial held this past September, 61 years after the original proceedings. In 1964, when Mr. Noh attempted to rape her, Choi bit his tongue, severing about 1.5 cm; prosecutors investigated her while she was detained for over six months and indicted her for causing serious injury. Although she claimed self-defense, the court did not accept it and sentenced her to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years. The assailant who attempted the rape was convicted only on charges other than attempted rape and received six months in prison, suspended for two years. After seeing the ‘MeToo’ movement in 2018, Choi applied for a retrial in 2020. The court dismissed both her retrial petition and her appeal, saying there was no evidence to support her claim that ‘the prosecutor illegally detained her and coerced a confession,’ but Choi filed a further appeal to the Supreme Court in 2021. After more than three years of deliberation, the Supreme Court’s Second Division quashed and remanded the lower court decision last December, holding that ‘Choi must be guaranteed an opportunity to have a retrial hearing.’ The Busan High Court then granted the appeal against the dismissal of the retrial, and proceedings were held. The Busan District Court ruled, ‘There is insufficient basis to recognize serious injury,’ and held that ‘the defendant’s act constituted justifiable self-defense to escape an unjust infringement upon her body and sexual self-determination.’High marks for heavy sentences on those responsible for the Arisel disaster The selection committee stated, ‘This case is the first example in which a victim of sexual violence had self-defense recognized on retrial,’ adding, ‘It is meaningful in that it corrected wrongful judicial practices and human-rights violations.’ It continued, ‘The Supreme Court held that where the credibility of the petitioner’s statements is recognized and direct or circumstantial evidence supports them, it is not appropriate to routinely dismiss the petition without particular fact-finding, and it thus established the legal standard for determining whether grounds for retrial exist.’ The Constitutional Court’s decision granting an injunction to suspend the effect of the appointments of Constitutional Court Justices Lee Wan-kyu and Ham Sang-hoon by former Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, acting as president, was also selected as a stepping-stone ruling. After former President Yoon Suk-yeol was removed from office in April, Han, as acting president, nominated then Minister of Government Legislation Lee Wan-kyu and Seoul High Court Presiding Judge Ham Sang-hoon as successors to Justices Moon Hyung-bae and Lee Mi-seon, who were presidential nominees. Attorney Kim Jeong-hwan filed a constitutional complaint and a motion for injunctive relief, and the Constitutional Court, in a unanimous opinion of all justices, granted the injunction, clarifying that ‘an acting president is different from the president.’ An appellate ruling ordering the Korean government to compensate Vietnamese victims massacred by ROK troops in the Vietnam War in 1968 was also selected as a stepping-stone ruling. In January, the Seoul Central District Court Civil Appellate Division 3-1 dismissed the government’s appeal in the state-compensation case filed by Vietnamese national Nguyen Thi Thanh and, as in the first instance, ordered the state to pay the 30,000,100 won claimed by the plaintiff. Following the first-ever 2023 ruling recognizing the government’s duty to compensate victims 55 years after the incident, the court again reached the same conclusion. In particular, although the government argued that ‘the statute of limitations on the plaintiff’s state-compensation claim has expired, rendering the suit invalid,’ the court rejected this, noting that ‘the plaintiff was only seven years old at the time and could not bring a state-compensation claim due to severed diplomatic relations and other circumstances.’ A ruling sentencing those responsible, including CEO Park Soon-gwan, to 15 years in prison for violations of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act and other offenses over the Arisel factory fire disaster that killed 23 people also received favorable evaluations. The Suwon District Court Criminal Division 14 held in September, ‘The defendant repeatedly instructed increased corporate sales while issuing no instructions to take care for workers’ safety,’ adding, ‘Considering the legislative purpose of the Serious Accidents Punishment Act, imposing heavy criminal liability is the appropriate outcome.’ The ruling canceling the basic plan for Saemangeum International Airport was also cited as a good decision this year. In September, the Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 7 ruled for the plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed by citizens affiliated with the Saemangeum New Airport Cancellation Joint Action seeking to annul the basic plan for the Saemangeum International Airport development project against the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. The court found it unlawful that, at the feasibility-evaluation stage, the ministry selected the site without comparing and reviewing the risk of bird strikes and intentionally downplayed the risk, concluding that ‘it deviated from the bounds of planning discretion by failing to ensure the legitimacy and objectivity of the balancing of interests.’ The selection committee said, ‘It is a judgment that considered citizens’ environmental interests, the safety of air operations, and the preservation of the ecosystem.’ Other stepping-stone rulings included ‘a ruling recognizing that handling a perpetrator of workplace sexual violence by allowing resignation instead of discipline violates the employer’s duty to take measures,’ ‘a ruling that acts exercising freedom of expression at an exhibition venue do not constitute the force required for the crime of obstruction of business,’ ‘a Supreme Court ruling recognizing state liability for damages for a quasi-legislative omission in the long neglect of an unconstitutional enforcement decree that infringed the access rights of persons with disabilities ,’ ‘a decision referring the constitutionality of the non-disclosure provision on adoption information to ensure overseas adoptees’ right to their roots,’ and ‘a ruling awarding consolation damages in the suit over People Power Party Changwon City Councilor Kim Mi-na’s post insulting the bereaved families of the October 29 Itaewon disaster.’ At the Supreme Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul, the court flag flutters. In August, the Supreme Court sided with SK Telecom in a lawsuit filed by SK Telecom subscribers seeking to halt ‘pseudonymization of personal information.’ Han Su-bin, reporter SKT subscribers’ ‘pseudonymization of personal data for third-party provision’ lawsuit… Supreme Court siding with a conglomerate deemed the year’s worst stumbling-block rulingThe worst stumbling-block ruling of the year was the Supreme Court’s decision siding with SK Telecom in a case brought by SKT subscribers seeking to stop pseudonymization of personal data for provision to third parties. The current Personal Information Protection Act provides that ‘a personal information controller may process pseudonymized information without the data subject’s consent for compiling statistics, scientific research, or preserving records of public interest.’ In 2020, civic groups asked SKT whether personal data had been provided to third parties without user consent, but SKT replied only that ‘information already pseudonymized is subject to limitations on the rights to access and to demand suspension of processing.’ The civic groups filed suit, arguing that once personal data has passed to a company, if there is no right to access or to demand suspension of processing, data subjects have no means to control or monitor it. The first and second instances sided with the plaintiffs, holding that the right to demand suspension of processing under the Personal Information Protection Act also includes pseudonymized information. However, in August the Supreme Court reversed, stating that ‘the Personal Information Protection Act presupposes that the target of suspension is the “processing” of personal information.’ The court reasoned that pseudonymization is a method to reduce the risk of identifying personal information and that the legislative purpose of activating data use must be considered. The selection committee criticized it as ‘the first Supreme Court ruling in which the judiciary restricted the constitutional right to informational self-determination under the pretext of technological development and industrial promotion,’ stating that it ‘fundamentally deprived data subjects of ex post control over pseudonymized personal data.’ It added, ‘A constitutional complaint and legislative supplementation should follow.’ A Supreme Court ruling that consensual sexual acts between persons of the same sex fall under the Military Criminal Act’s indecency provision was also selected as one of the worst rulings. In May, the Supreme Court’s Third Division quashed and remanded a lower-court acquittal in an appeal by a former service member indicted for indecency under the Military Criminal Act. The defendant was charged with engaging in sexual acts during off-duty hours in the barracks of an Army unit in Nonsan, South Chungcheong Province, in 2020 and with engaging in a quasi-sexual act in a nearby restroom while on night watch.Judge’s high-handed conduct in court draws ‘frowns’ In the past, sexual acts between same-sex service members were invariably punishable, but in 2022 the Supreme Court en banc held that consensual sexual relations in a private setting outside the base could not be punished. In contrast, the present Supreme Court decision focused on infringements of discipline in the barracks and while on night watch, ruling differently from the prior precedent. ‘If demands to establish and maintain discipline apply in a relatively broad space or situation, such conduct must be viewed as directly and concretely infringing the military’s sound life and discipline, and thus capable of constituting indecency under the current provision.’ The selection committee pointed out that it ‘rendered a judgment of guilt merely on the fact that consensual sexual conduct occurred between soldiers on base, without examining specifically how each act infringed discipline,’ and that it ‘seriously infringed the basic rights of sexual minorities, including human dignity, equality, and sexual self-determination.’ The Constitutional Court’s dismissal of the impeachment petition against former Korea Communications Commission Chair Lee Jin-sook was also cited as a stumbling-block ruling. In January, the Constitutional Court dismissed the impeachment case against Lee on a 44 split, allowing her to avoid removal and return to work. It did not view her actsdeliberating and deciding on agenda items non-publicly under a ‘two-commissioner system’ after taking officeas unconstitutional or unlawful conduct grave enough to warrant removal. The selection committee said, ‘In interpreting provisions of the KCC Act, the decision should have also considered the constitutional significance of freedm of broadcasting and the intent behind establishing the KCC as a collegial body, yet it relied on an insufficiently empirical legal interpretation of the KCC Act.’ It continued, ‘After this decision, the KCC again appointed the EBS president and the KBS auditor by a two-member vote, only to have their effect later suspended by the courts, pointlessly continuing unlawful administration.’ A ruling by Senior Judge Oh Chang-hun of the Jeju District Court convicting defendants of obstructing official duties through unlawful procedures, while telling spectators, defendants, and defense counsel, “From now on, do not make any statements whatsoever. If you violate this, I will detain you,” was also cited as a stumbling block. The defendants had received suspended sentences at first instance, but at the first appellate hearing Judge Oh concluded the proceedings, overturned the lower judgment without a separate deliberation process, sentenced them to one year and eight months in prison, and took them into custody in court while making high-handed remarks. Other stumbling-block rulings included ‘a decision dismissing the request for an arrest warrant on charges of involvement in important missions related to insurrection against former Justice Minister Park Sung-jae,’ ‘a ruling recognizing the principle of effectiveness in worker-dispatch relationships,’ ‘a ruling holding that acts by in-house subcontractor union members who occupied a plant by force and halted its operation constituted an unjustifiable industrial action amounting to a tort,’ ‘a Supreme Court ruling that an online platform operator’s adjustments to search algorithms do not violate the Fair Trade Act,’ ‘a Supreme Court ruling that, where a landlord goes bankrupt, the effect of a discharge order extends to the entirety of a residential tenant’s claim for return of the security deposit,’ and ‘a Supreme Court ruling that composite images that graft the faces of real children or adolescents onto nude photos do not constitute child or youth sexual exploitation material.’

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Wrongful Imprisonment… Acquitted In A Retrial Aft This Year’S Top Stepping-Stone Ruling

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‘Rapist’s tongue severed’ Ms. Choi Mal-ja, wrongful imprisonment… Acquitted in a retrial after 61 years, this year’s top stepping-stone rulingMINBYUN (Lawyers for a Democratic Society) and the Kyunghyang Shinmun selected the ‘acquittal in the retrial of Ms. Choi Mal-ja’ as this year’s bes...
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