Asian Junkie Asian pop. Without discretion.
Former DIA member Somyi has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for making false sexual assault allegations.
Back in January of 2023, Somyi filed a sexual assault claim against her label’s CEO. That was initially dismissed by authorities, but she appealed the decision, and further investigation uncovered CCTV evidence, along with a supposed motive.
On the day of the trial, the prosecution showed CCTV footage showing Ms. A walking out of the room where she was with “B” on the day of the alleged incident very calmly. She then went around inside the office and hugged the CEO.
The prosecution believes that Ms. A had a motive to falsely accuse “B,” stating that she was trying to pressure the CEO to break up with the woman they were seeing at that time. Ms. A, however, denied this claim. Her lawyer also argued that on the night of the incident, she was drinking and devoid of the capability of making a sound judgment. The lawyer also argued that judging his client by the CCTV footage was a reductive way of seeing a sexual assault victim.
That CCTV footage proved pivotal in the results of the trial, as the judge mentioned.
During the proceedings, the court emphasized that the victim’s statements remained consistently aligned with both investigative reports and courtroom testimonies. Conversely, the defendant’s statements were noted for their lack of coherence and inconsistency with CCTV footage, thus diminishing their credibility.
The court further explained that pivotal evidence, including surveillance footage and text message exchanges, played a crucial role in exonerating the accused and dismissing the charges. Without such evidence, the legal ramifications could have been significantly more severe. Despite the presence of compelling evidence, the defendant attempted to justify her actions by citing memory lapses attributed to psychiatric medication or alcohol consumption.
It’s difficult to speak on this result definitively because we haven’t seen the evidence that the court/judge has.
That said, from the explanations given, it seems like she’s largely being sentenced to prison because she’s on video acting “normal” after her alleged sexual assault. However, from most of the literature I’ve read, that’s not an abnormal reaction to the alleged traumatic event (to go about or pretend everything is normal). Furthermore, since the start of the year, a Supreme Court ruling in Korea has placed special emphasis on whether alleged victims basically act as victims are supposed to and have effectively have put them on trial. At the very least it’s enough for me to want a more detailed explanation from the court — one that we’re unlikely to ever get — if they’re sentencing a potential victim to prison like this.
Keep in mind, she is getting eight months more than what former B.A.P member Himchan served after four sexual assault victims, one involving molka, and a drunk driving charge. Perhaps I’m missing something, but I find this hard to reconcile, even assuming the ruling against Somyi was correct.
