Choi Mal-ja, a South Korean woman convicted nearly six decades ago for an act of self-defense during an attempted sexual assault, is set to have her case re-evaluated.
Now 78, Choi was only 18 when she bit off a portion of her assailant’s tongue to thwart the attack. Despite the clear nature of her actions as self-defense, she was convicted of aggravated bodily injury and received a 10-month suspended prison sentence.
As documented by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), Choi initially petitioned the Busan District Court—the same court that had sentenced her in the 1960s—for a retrial. Her request was denied due to an asserted lack of exculpatory evidence.
She subsequently appealed to the Busan High Court, which also rejected her plea. It was only after she escalated the case to the Supreme Court that the High Court was directed to reconsider her case.
The Supreme Court identified potential violations of procedural due process, specifically suggesting that Choi may have been unlawfully detained during the investigation spanning 1964 and 1965.
“There are enough grounds to believe that there had been unlawful arrest and detention without warrant, as dictated by the Criminal Procedure Act,” the Busan court stated.
The underlying incident occurred on May 6, 1964, near Choi’s residence, when a 21-year-old man named Noh attempted to rape her. In a desperate act of resistance, Choi bit off 1.5 cm of his tongue and escaped. Despite the evident circumstances of self-defense, she faced a harsher legal penalty than her attacker, who was sentenced to six months in prison with a two-year suspension.
In a 2020 interview with The Korea Herald, Choi recalled the coercion she endured from the prosecution. “I said I did nothing wrong, and [the prosecutor] said if I didn’t comply, I would have to spend the rest of my life in jail,” she stated.
Additionally, her father was compelled to deplete the family’s financial resources to secure a settlement with Noh, but the harassment persisted. Noh later forcibly entered their home and threatened both Choi and her sister with a knife.
Years later, Choi pursued higher education, deepening her understanding of the systemic injustices she had faced. With the support of a women’s advocacy organization specializing in assistance for survivors of sexual violence, she formally sought a retrial. Her renewed pursuit of justice was further bolstered by the global #MeToo movement, which shed light on institutionalized gender discrimination and the failures of the legal system in addressing sexual violence.
Choi’s case has reignited critical discourse on South Korea’s historical treatment of sexual violence cases. As The Korea Herald noted, “Though unthinkable and abhorrent today, it was not uncommon for courts of the 1960s and 1970s in South Korea to play matchmaker between rape victims and their rapists.”
South Korea has since implemented significant reforms in the realm of women’s rights, including the enactment of the 1994 Sexual Violence Prevention and Victims Protection Act and the establishment of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in 2010.
These legislative and institutional advancements signify a profound shift in the recognition of survivors’ rights and the state’s role in protecting them.
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