Man in 20s fined for attempted groping on express bus

A man in his 20s was fined for attempting to grope a sleeping woman seated next to him on an express bus.

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A man in his 20s was fined for attempting to grope a sleeping woman seated next to him on an express bus.

The Chuncheon District Court fined the 28-year-old man 5 million won ($3,600) for attempted indecent assault, according to legal sources on Wednesday.

The man was indicted for reaching toward the chest of a woman in her 20s who had fallen asleep next to him on a moving bus on Aug. 4, 2024. The attempt was thwarted when the woman woke up.

In court, the defendant claimed he had no intent to grope the woman and had only extended his arm to check if she was asleep, citing prior physical contact initiated by her arm brushing against him.

However, the court rejected his argument, citing footage from the bus’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) system. The video showed the man glancing at the woman’s face and chest before reaching toward her chest area. The woman visibly reacted in surprise as his hand neared her body.

The court ruled that reaching toward a sexually sensitive area such as the chest without consent, especially while the victim was unconscious, constituted a clear attempt to simultaneously commit assault and indecent conduct by surprise.

The court added that the man's actions demonstrated intent and if the woman had not awoken his hand would have made contact. Therefore, it concluded that the act qualified as an attempt to commit “a surprise harassment.”

The man has appealed the first-instance verdict and the case is now pending a second trial at the Chuncheon District Court.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff. BY HAN YOUNG-HYE [kim.minyoung5@joongang.co.kr]