Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Top court confirms jail term for opera singer for sexually abusing teen pupil
By Bahk Eun-ji
The Supreme Court upheld a high court decision, Monday, to sentence a renowned opera singer to six years in jail for sexually abusing his teen pupil.
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By Bahk Eun-ji
The top court also ordered the singer, surnamed Kwon, 54, to undergo 40 hours of education about sexual violence.
Kwon was famous for his TV presence as a mentor for young students who dreamt of being opera singers.
After meeting the 17-year-old on the TV program, Kwon offered him private lessons. The boy stayed at Kwon's home in Seoul for lessons from March to December in 2014, and Kwon sexually assaulted him over three times between October and November. Kwon was also alleged to have sexually harassed the student's friend and younger brother who visited.
The singer was indicted and arrested in December 2017 as the student's father reported him to the police after belatedly learning about the abuse.
A local court initially handed down a seven-year prison sentence with 120 hours of education, saying Kwon used his powerful status and awareness that the boy ― whose family was not well off enough to pay for quality lessons ― desperately needed his help to become a successful opera singer.
However, the high court reduced the sentence to six years in prison and 40 hours of education, not recognizing the sexual harassment allegation involving the student's brother as his testimony was inconsistent.