'September Wedding' Who is Ban Min-jeong? Perpetrator of Cho Deok-je's Sexual Assault → 'The Masked Lady' Acting Award [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

As actor Ban Min-jeong announced her September wedding, public attention has focused on her.

Ban Min-jeong made her debut in 2001 with director Kim Ki-duk's film 'Unknown Recipient' and subsequently appeared in dramas such as 'Dong Yi', 'You Who Rolled In Unexpectedly', 'Good Doctor', 'The Masked Lady', 'Midnight Diner', 'Yeon Gaesomun', and films including 'Yoga Academy', 'Doctor', and 'Extraterritoriality'.

Through the drama 'The Masked Lady', she won the Drama Award at the 20th Korea Culture & Entertainment Awards in 2012.

Ban Min-jeong is a graduate of the Korea National University of Arts and currently works as an actor while serving as the director of BMJ Acting Studio. She teaches entrance exam preparation, auditions, adult acting classes, and acting for toddlers, elementary school children, and teenagers at the studio.

Ban Min-jeong is also known for publicly reporting that she was sexually assaulted by actor Cho Deok-je in the past. In April 2015, Cho Deok-je faced allegations of tearing off Ban Min-jeong's underwear during a film shoot and inserting his hand into her pants to touch her body parts. Ban Min-jeong claimed she sustained abrasions requiring two weeks of medical treatment during the incident.

Regarding this incident, Cho Deok-je was acquitted in the first trial in December 2016. However, the second trial court sentenced him to one year in prison with a two-year probation period and ordered him to complete 40 hours of sexual violence treatment programs. Cho Deok-je appealed to the Supreme Court, but the appeal was rejected. The Supreme Court upheld the original verdict, convicting Cho Deok-je of sexual assault.

Additionally, Cho Deok-je was prosecuted for spreading defamatory posts about Ban Min-jeong online between 2017 and 2018, resulting in a one-year prison sentence.

At the time, despite being the victim, Ban Min-jeong received a flood of malicious comments. In an interview with StarNews, she stated, "When I came to my senses, I found that irrational and defamatory comments were plastered all over news articles." She added, "Some people even insulted me as a gold-digger. Yet, I have not received a single won in compensation from Cho Deok-je."

Ban Min-jeong said, "Even though Cho Deok-je was detained by court order for defamation and insult, malicious commenters are still posting false and insulting remarks without any sense of caution. 'Why are they doing this to me?'" She continued, "As a victim, I took only the minimum legal action necessary to survive. Why do anonymous netizens whose faces and names I don't even know hurt me so much?" She explained, "Except for a few malicious commenters who were genuinely remorseful among those prosecuted alongside Cho Deok-je, all others received criminal punishment. Some of these commenters came to court and made various excuses, apologizing not to me but to the judge, begging for leniency."

Furthermore, Ban Min-jeong stated, "Having endured difficult times and overcome my wounds, I wanted to move forward again. However, I do not wish to show leniency toward malicious commenters who hide anonymously to harass the vulnerable and post excessively harmful comments. I will respond firmly through legal means."

Meanwhile, according to TV Report on the 6th, Ban Min-jeong is scheduled to hold her wedding ceremony with a non-celebrity at an undisclosed location in Seoul on September 6. Her fiancé is a businessman one year older than her, and the two reportedly met through introductions.

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*This content was translated by AI.