Ki Sung-yong's 'Sexual Assault Allegation' Compensation Lawsuit Assigned to Media-Dedicated Court Panel

The First Memorial Service Likely to Be Held This August

Soccer player Ki Sung-yueng of FC Seoul [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Football player Ki Sung-yueng (32, FC Seoul) has had his civil lawsuit against the parties who raised sexual assault allegations assigned to the Seoul Central District Court's media-specialized trial division.

According to the court on the 24th, the Seoul Central District Court assigned the civil damages claim lawsuit filed by Ki Sung-yueng against A and B, who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by him, to Civil Division 14 (Chief Judge Kim Jong-min) yesterday. This division is a specialized panel that handles media-related cases. In Ki Sung-yueng's lawsuit, Chief Judge Kim presides over the trial, and Judge Hwang Hae-cheol serves as the presiding judge.

The chief judge directs the lawsuit proceedings, while the presiding judge collects opinions and drafts the judgment. Chief Judge Kim, a graduate of the 31st Judicial Research and Training Institute class, was commissioned at the Gwangju District Court in 2005 and has served as a judge dispatched to the Constitutional Court and as chief judge at the Busan Family Court. Presiding Judge Hwang, from the 44th class, worked as a prosecutor after completing the training institute and transitioned to a judge in 2020.

The court plans to send Ki Sung-yueng's complaint to the accused parties and receive their responses before scheduling a hearing date. In civil lawsuits, the first hearing is usually set about five months after the complaint is filed. As of January this year, the average time from complaint filing to the first hearing was 155 days at the Seoul Central District Court and 157 days nationwide. Accordingly, Ki Sung-yueng's first civil trial, attended by representatives from both sides, is expected to take place around August. Currently, Ki Sung-yueng's legal representative is Attorney Song Sang-yeop of Law Firm Seopyeong, while Attorneys Park Ji-hoon of Law Firm Hyeon represent the accusers.

There is also a possibility that the court may schedule the hearing earlier. A court official explained, "It is customary to hold a hearing after receiving responses from the defendants and conducting one or two rounds of written arguments, but sometimes hearings are scheduled before the defendants' written preparations are submitted." In such cases, the first hearing could be held around the court's summer recess period (usually late July).

Previously, on the 24th of last month, A and B revealed through Attorney Park that they had been sexually assaulted by senior player C and D from January to June 2000 while playing on a soccer team at an elementary school in Jeonnam. Although Ki Sung-yueng's name was not mentioned, it was sufficiently inferred from the content that player C was Ki Sung-yueng. On the 27th of last month, Ki Sung-yueng voluntarily held a press conference after the opening match of the professional K League 1 to assert his innocence and announced legal action. In response, A and B stated that if a lawsuit was filed, they would disclose evidence of sexual assault in court. Ultimately, on the 22nd, Ki Sung-yueng decided to file both a criminal complaint and a civil lawsuit against A and B.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.