South Korea overturns 60-year-old conviction of woman jailed for biting alleged attacker’s tongue
A South Korean court has overturned the 60-year-old conviction of
Choi Mal-ja, a woman who was jailed as a teenager in 1964 after biting off part of her alleged attacker’s tongue while resisting sexual assault.
Choi, now 79, said she was attacked at age 18 in the coastal city of Busan. She escaped by biting off 1.5 centimeters of the man’s tongue. He later sued her for grievous bodily harm, while she filed a counter-complaint accusing him of attempted rape, trespassing, and intimidation.
In 1965, Choi was sentenced to 10 months in prison and two years of probation — a harsher sentence than her aggressor, who received six months and one year of probation. Prosecutors dropped his attempted rape charge.
Her case reflected the deep patriarchy of 1960s South Korea, where women faced little protection from sexual violence. Choi later revealed that during the investigation she was handcuffed, forced to undergo a virginity test, and even asked if she wished to marry her attacker to settle the case.
Choi began pursuing a retrial in 2020, spurred by growing women’s rights movements, including #MeToo. In 2023, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial at the Busan District Court, which on Wednesday acquitted her.
The court ruled that her actions were in self-defense and said prosecutors failed to prove her attacker suffered permanent disability. Medical records showed he underwent surgery, passed military exams, and regained normal speech within a year.
Choi and her supporters celebrated the verdict outside court, holding signs and chanting, “Choi Mal-ja did it!”
“People warned me it would be like hitting an egg against a rock, but I couldn’t let this case be buried,” she said.
Her lawyers now plan to sue the government for damages. Women’s rights groups hailed the ruling as a landmark moment. Wang Mi-yang, president of the Korea Women Lawyers Association, said the original judgment reflected “social prejudice and distorted views on victims of sexual violence that remained deeply rooted in our society.”
Choi has said she pursued justice not only for herself but for future generations. In a letter to the Supreme Court last year, she wrote: “The girl’s life, which couldn’t even blossom, was forever unfair and in resentment… the country must compensate for my human rights.”
