Actor Kang Ji-hwan (42, Cho Tae-gyu) denied the allegations of sexual assaults. He was handed over to the court due to the accusations made against him.
The third trial against Kang was held at the First Criminal Justice of the Suwon District Court. Kang's lawyer spoke in regards to his forceful sexual assault allegations, "I have a lot of doubts." The lawyer denied the allegations.
The prosecutor explained the reason why he brought an additional victim saying, "There is a question about whether the victim was incapable of moving against him at 8:30 pm, which is the time of the crime, and whether the accused touched the victim's private part."
However, victim A from the side of the prosecutor did not come out, although she was supposed to attend the court meeting.
The court said, "The first date comments were not expressly arguing that the victim was in a state of inability to fight and that the accused had no memory. However, the restatement mentions that it is not possible that he was unconscious. Make it clear if you're arguing over that part."
The lawyers denied that part and Kang also said, "I will follow the lawyer's opinion."
In the first trial, he admitted the accusations and promised to do his best to help victims healed. However, at the second hearing, Kang's side questioned if he had touched the private parts of the victims.
The lawyer argued that if Kang touched a private part of the victim who was menstruating, DNA had to be detected in Kang's body, the victim's body, or a bed mattress. It wasn't found.
The KakaoTalk message that the victim sent to acquaintances reveals that the victim was not unconscious and unable to fight back but awake. It was also argued that what victim says is not credible that she woke up because of his sexual assault after falling asleep.
The following trial was attended by Yoo who is an elementary school alumni and a drama worker.
He has been close to Kang for 30 years, and he usually drank together. He said, "Kang is a man of loyalty and a style to take care of people around him." "I respected him as a friend who always does his best," added Yoo.
Yoo said, "He usually doesn't drink because he is a self-controlled person. He has never drunk alcohol during the shooting period. When the work is finished, he finally takes drink and drinks a lot. One week before the accident, he was stressed because of delayed script and conflict with the producing director. He may have tried to relieve himself by drinking."
Yoo explained that Kang often suffered a so-called "blackout" state that he would not remember at all if he drank a lot of alcohol and had a habit of singing.
The lawyer asked, "Has he ever caused a scandal or harmed others when he was drunk and unconscious?" Yoo said, "He never caused an accident after drinking. Rather, he became gentler." "He didn't want to show drunkenness to the public when he was drunk, so he has always been wary of words and actions. "
Mr. Kang was apprehended by the police on the day of the incident for sexually assaulting one of the victims and raping the other after drinking alcohol with two female staff who helped shoot at his home in Gwangju, Gyeonggi-do on the afternoon of July 9. He was arrested on July 12th.
When the incident broke out, he left the TV Chosun Drama, "Chosun Survival Period", and was notified of the termination of the exclusive contract from his company, White Brothers Korea.
The court will hold a final hearing at the 4th Court of Seongnam on November 21.
