Jung Hee-won, a doctor known for "slow aging" and head of the Slow Aging Research Institute, was handed over to prosecutors after a legal battle over allegations including stalking a female researcher in the workplace.
According to police on the 10th, the Bangbae Police Station in Seoul recognized some of the allegations against Jung, including violating the anti-stalking law, defamation, and false accusation, and referred the case to prosecutors without detention the previous day. However, it was reported that the forcible molestation charge was dismissed as no offense.
On Dec. in the previous year, controversy erupted when Jung, the head of the institute, filed a complaint accusing commissioned researcher A of violating the anti-stalking law and attempted extortion, among other charges.
At the time, Jung claimed that A appeared near Jung's wife's workplace, made threats, and even came to the front door of their home.
In response, A filed a countersuit, alleging that Jung repeatedly made sexual demands by leveraging the position as head of the institute, and accusing Jung of forcible molestation, violating the Copyright Act, false accusation, defamation, and violating the anti-stalking law.
On Jan. 10, Jung expressed an apology directly regarding the privacy controversy through the personal YouTube channel. However, Jung said there was no instance of forcing sexual roles by using the position as head of the institute, and the claim of copyright infringement was also not true.
Jung and A have withdrawn their complaints and submitted statements to police that they do not wish punishment. Accordingly, some of the allegations were not investigated.
On the 15th of last month, police also referred A to prosecutors without detention on charges including housebreaking and violating the anti-stalking law.