Woman fined for sexual misconduct in South Korea after pulling down colleague's trousers

South China Morning Post

09-06-2025

A South Korean court has fined a woman in her fifties for sexual misconduct after she pulled down a male colleague's trousers – and his underwear by accident – in front of other employees in what she claimed was a prank.
On Saturday, the Chuncheon District Court ordered the woman to pay a fine of 2.8 million won (US$2,000) and undergo eight hours of sexual violence prevention education, according to The Korea Herald newspaper.
The woman had claimed she had intended to play a practical joke – commonly known as 'pantsing' – on a male colleague in his twenties when she pulled down his trousers, and his underwear by accident, at a restaurant kitchen in a Wonju, Gangwon province, on October 3 last year.
However, prosecutors found that she had sexually humiliated the man and charged her with an indecent act by compulsion.
The judge later dismissed her claim that she meant it as a joke. In sentencing, however, the court took into account the fact that the woman had no criminal record and was remorseful. She had knelt down and apologised to both the victim and his parents.
In Confucian South Korean society, men are expected to stay strong and silent, so male victims tend to choose not to come forward.
However, a government survey released on Monday showed that men do face sexual harassment at work too, Yonhap news agency reported.