A national petition requesting to raise the age for punishment of statutory rape involving minors from the current under 16 to under 19 appeared on the National Assembly electronic petition website.
According to the National Assembly on the 1st, a petition titled "Raising the age for statutory rape against minors and strengthening penalties, known as the '○○○ Prevention Law'" was submitted by a petitioner on the 31st of last month on the National Assembly electronic petition website.
In this post, the petitioner noted, "Recently, the grooming sexual crime perpetrated by Hallyu star ○○○ against child actress ○○○, who was a minor at the time, was revealed, causing outrage among the entire nation. However, unfortunately, the reality is that the statutory rape law only protects children aged 13 to under 16, meaning that ○○○ cannot be legally punished."
The petitioner further argued, "South Korean law clearly defines minors as those under 18 years of age and protects them. The age limit for statutory rape allows a pedophile to entice and deceive a promising young actress from childhood, ultimately leading to her death, escaping the law."
The petitioner requested that the punishment age for statutory rape against minors be raised from the current 13 to under 16 to 13 to under 19, and that penalties be strengthened.
Statutory rape against minors refers to when, under criminal law, even if a party aged 13 to 18 expresses consent for sexual relations, it is not considered valid consent and is treated as committing rape.
This petition seems to have arisen due to allegations regarding the relationship between actor Kim Soo-hyun and the late Kim Sae-ron. Kim Soo-hyun acknowledged during a press conference that he did date Kim Sae-ron, but stated that it was not true that they dated when she was a minor.
Kim Soo-hyun said, "We dated for about a year four years before 'Queen of Tears' aired (in 2020). I denied the dating fact at that time," adding, "We did not date when the late Kim Sae-ron was a minor."
Kim Soo-hyun's side filed a lawsuit against the bereaved family. Lawyer Kim Jong-bok from LKB & Partners stated, "We submitted a total of 12 billion won in damages to the Seoul Central District Court against the bereaved family, an unidentified person claiming to be an aunt, and the operator of the Garosero Research Institute."