[Exclusive]South Gyeongju 'Lion' disciple sexual assault allegations trial suddenly postponed to July

*This content was translated by AI.

The trial regarding sexual assault allegations against a disciple of musical actor South Gyeongju has been postponed to July.

According to StarNews, the Seoul Central District Court's Criminal Division 13 had scheduled the first court hearing on the charge of sexual intercourse with a subordinate against South Gyeongju for June 12, but the request for postponement by South Gyeongju's side was accepted, pushing the hearing to July. It was also confirmed that South Gyeongju replaced his legal team during this process.

Previously, on May 24, the Women and Children Crime Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Service indicted South Gyeongju without detention on charges of sexual intercourse with a subordinate.

According to police, South Gyeongju was transferred to the Prosecutors' Service in February on charges of sexually assaulting female disciple A using his social status and influence at an unspecified location in Seocho-gu, Seoul, in December 2025. A reportedly reported the incident to 112 immediately after the event. While South Gyeongju denied the allegations during police investigation, police determined the allegations were credible and transferred the case to the Prosecutors' Service.

Subsequently, South Gyeongju's side requested criminal mediation proceedings from the Prosecutors' Service in an attempt to reach a settlement, but it reportedly failed due to the victim's refusal.

South Gyeongju, who had been working alone without an agency until recently, has not yet issued an official statement. He has also deleted his Instagram account and appears to be erasing all traces related to the incident, so his appearance in this trial is expected to draw significant attention. Immediately after the sexual assault allegations surfaced, Hongik University, where South Gyeongju was serving as a professor in the Department of Performing Arts, held a disciplinary committee and removed him from his position. South Gyeongju served as an associate professor in the Performing Arts and Musical Theater major at Hongik University's Department of Performing Arts until 2025, conducting classes, but was removed from his position just before the start of the current semester.

Born in 1964, South Gyeongju is 62 years old this year and is known as a patriarch of Korean musicals, representing the first generation of the genre. After debuting in the 1984 play "Porgy and Bess," he appeared in numerous musical productions including "The Dumb Waiter," "West Side Story," "Les Misérables," "Grease," and "42nd Street."

South Gyeongju continued his activities in 2025, appearing in "Hidden Love" and "The Show! Silla-Gyeongju."

Meanwhile, as the current sexual assault case has come to light, South Gyeongju's past record of two drunk driving incidents and one unlicensed driving incident has also been brought back into focus.

South Gyeongju's license was revoked in December 2002 due to exceeding the demerit point limit for drunk driving. He did not stop there; his license was revoked again in June 2003 for exceeding the demerit point limit due to another drunk driving incident. At the time, he stated, "I had urgent business, so I had no choice but to drive." Furthermore, despite having his license revoked, South Gyeongju was taken into custody without detention in April 2004 on charges of driving his mother's sedan without a license on a road in front of Samsung-dong High School in Gangnam-gu.

It is also reported that he was taken to Samcheong Education Camp during his third year of high school due to being a troublemaker. In this regard, musical actor Nam Kyung-eop, who appeared in the play "Rain Man" with his younger brother South Gyeongju at a press conference in 2010, said, "My younger brother is actually a troublemaker," adding, "He even went to Samcheong Education Camp while still a high school senior. I attended the same high school as Gyeongju and even served as the religious affairs officer, so I was scolded every day because of my younger brother."

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*This content was translated by AI.