A court acquitted a company president on charges of forcible molestation, saying it was difficult to recognize the charge, after he scratched the palm and stroked the back of the hand while shaking hands with a woman employee he was meeting for the first time.
On the 4th, according to legal sources, Senior Judge Lee Jae-uk of the Ulsan District Court Criminal Division 3 acquitted A, the head of a company in Ulsan who was indicted on charges of forcible molestation.
A was put on trial on charges of, in March last year, during a handshake with B, a woman employee he had not met before, at the company labor union office, scratching B's palm several times with his finger and wrapping and stroking the back of her hand.
B testified that immediately after the incident, after searching online for the meaning of the behavior, B felt great displeasure, and it was found that B also confided this to a colleague who was there at the time. A went to find B the next day and apologized, but was later indicted on charges of forcible molestation.
The court determined that A's conduct was an inappropriate act that went beyond the scope of a typical handshake.
The court explained, "Scratching the palm can be seen as a nonverbal expression with a sexual intent, and wrapping and stroking the back of the hand is also an excessive act different from the usual way of shaking hands," adding, "From the victim's standpoint, it was highly unpleasant and could be taken as sexual harassment."
However, it found that there was insufficient violence or coercion to recognize the act as forcible molestation subject to criminal punishment.
The court said, "Considering the witness statements as a whole, it is difficult to see that the handshake lasted especially long or that there was any other unusual physical contact," and "It is hard to acknowledge that the defendant's act alone constituted the use of physical force required for the crime of forcible molestation."