"Come Over to My House" Minor Student Sexual Assault... The Fall of Judo Star Wang Gichun

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Wang Gichun, the silver medalist in judo at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, has fallen from grace. He was sentenced to six years in prison for sexually assaulting underage students who were only 16 to 17 years old. Despite maintaining top-tier performance in various international competitions until his retirement, including winning the World Championships and consecutive gold medals at the Tokyo and Paris Grand Slam tournaments, he ultimately ended up without even receiving a pension. The Korea Judo Association has permanently expelled him.

Wang was tried on charges of sexually assaulting victims who attended the gym he operated from 2017 until last year. It was revealed that he lured victims, who were 16 and 17 years old at the time, to his home and sexually assaulted them. Wang enticed the victims to his house by saying things like "I'll buy you a hamburger" and "Come over to my house."

During the trial, Wang's side claimed that the sexual relations were consensual and argued that he was in a romantic relationship with the victims. However, the first trial court ruled, "There was no opportunity for emotions to develop between the defendant and the victims, who are 15 years younger," and judged that "the defendant's claims are difficult to believe." The court sentenced him to six years in prison, stating, "As a teacher and adult, he had the duty to guide, protect, and supervise the victims, but he abused his position and violated the sexual self-determination rights of emotionally immature victims."

In particular, the court pointed out that "he consistently denied the crimes, showed no remorse, lied to the victims' families, and even after detention, pressured the victims through acquaintances to retract their statements and reach a settlement," ordering him to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programs and imposing an eight-year employment ban at child and youth-related institutions.

In the second trial, Wang claimed, "The victims registered at the judo gym for hobbies and health reasons, not for college entrance exams," but the appellate court stated, "The victims have consistently testified from the investigation stage to the courtroom that they attended the judo gym to prepare for college entrance exams," and added, "It can be sufficiently recognized that the defendant used his power to overpower the victims' sexual autonomy and sexually assaulted them."

The Supreme Court also upheld the lower courts' rulings. On the 29th, during Wang's final appeal, the six-year prison sentence was confirmed. The original ruling ordering 40 hours of sexual violence treatment and an eight-year employment ban at child and youth-related institutions was also maintained.

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