Appeals court finds ex-governor guilty of sexual abuse

Former South Chungcheong Province Governor An Hee-jung enters the Seoul High Court in southern Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

An appeals court on Friday found a former governor of South Chungcheong Province guilty of sexually abusing his then secretary, reversing the highly debated acquittal by a lower court in one of South Korea's high profile Me Too cases.

The Seoul High Court ruled that An Hee-jung was guilty of nine counts of the 10 charges that include abuse of power and sexual molestation.

The court took the 54-year-old into custody immediately after the ruling.

An, once considered a potential presidential candidate of the liberal bloc, was indicted in April last year for allegedly forcing his former secretary to have sex with him and groping her multiple times between the middle of 2017 and early 2018.

The lower court found him not guilty in August last year, citing insufficient evidence. (Yonhap)