Convicted for biting off tongue of attempted rapist, Choi Mal-ja is acquitted 60 years after
Published: 10 Sep. 2025, 18:45
Updated: 10 Sep. 2025, 23:32
![Choi Mal-ja gives a thumbs-up as she leaves the courtroom after being acquitted in a retrial at the Busan District Court in Busan on Sept. 10. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/10/925fa697-f942-45d7-8972-2da87cd2798e.jpg)
Choi Mal-ja gives a thumbs-up as she leaves the courtroom after being acquitted in a retrial at the Busan District Court in Busan on Sept. 10. [NEWS1]
Choi Mal-ja, 78, was acquitted Wednesday, nearly 60 years after a court convicted her of aggravated bodily injury for biting off part of a man’s tongue while resisting an attempted rape in 1964.
“The court finds the defendant, Choi Mal-ja, not guilty,” a judge said at the Busan District Court on Wednesday, overturning a 1965 ruling that found her guilty of causing serious injury to her rapist.
“There is not enough evidence to support the charge of serious injury,” the court said Wednesday. “The defendant’s claim of self-defense is valid.”
The case dates back to May 6, 1964, in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang. Choi, then 18, bit the tongue of a 21-year-old man surnamed Noh who had broken into her home and tried to kiss her while attempting to rape her. The injury measured approximately 1.5 centimeters (0.6 inches).
Police initially accepted Choi’s account and referred Noh to prosecutors on charges of attempted rape, unlawful entry and intimidation. However, prosecutors later dropped the rape charge against Noh and indicted him only on charges of unlawful entry and intimidation, while indicting Choi for causing serious injury.
A court sentenced Choi to 10 months in prison and suspended the sentence for two years. Noh received a six-month suspended sentence.
“They told me I had to take responsibility for disabling a man,” Choi said. “One even told me to marry him.”
Her conviction became one of Korea’s most cited legal precedents for rejecting self-defense claims in sexual violence cases. It was included in law textbooks and in a 1995 Supreme Court publication under the heading “tongue-biting during forced kiss case.”
In May 2020, Choi filed for a retrial with support from women's and human rights groups. Lower courts dismissed the petition, arguing the original ruling reflected the "standards of its time." In September 2021, she appealed to the Supreme Court and began staging solo protests outside the court, which harmed her health and reportedly led to the loss of several teeth.
![Choi Mal-ja, who was found guilty of injuring a man who tried to rape her in 1964, holds a protest in front to the Supreme Court in southern Seoul on May 31, 2023. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/10/269f135f-4f7b-4dee-b0a4-cede7fc1ea78.jpg)
Choi Mal-ja, who was found guilty of injuring a man who tried to rape her in 1964, holds a protest in front to the Supreme Court in southern Seoul on May 31, 2023. [YONHAP]
“If I die before the retrial is granted, please finish it for me,” she told those around her.
The Supreme Court overturned the lower courts’ decisions on Dec. 18 last year, saying Choi’s testimony was credible and criticizing the lack of investigation. At the first retrial hearing on July 23, Busan's Chief Prosecutor Jeong Myeong-won formally apologized to Choi.
“We cannot begin to fathom the pain and suffering inflicted upon Ms. Choi, a victim of sexual violence. We sincerely apologize,” Jeong said. “We ask the court to declare her not guilty.”
The court granted the prosecutor's sentencing request, though it did not offer a direct apology during the ruling.
![Choi Mal-ja waits for the verdict in her retrial at the Busan District Court in Busan on Sept. 10. [NEWS1]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/09/10/9026d0aa-9477-4802-ae27-f0c990725365.jpg)
Choi Mal-ja waits for the verdict in her retrial at the Busan District Court in Busan on Sept. 10. [NEWS1]
Choi left the courtroom with her lawyers and members of women’s rights groups, chanting, “Choi Mal-ja is not guilty. Choi Mal-ja did it.”
Attorney Lee Gu-young, head of the law office Saleum, said the case shows how much social norms have changed.
“Growing recognition of sexual autonomy played a role in the retrial, the prosecution’s apology and the not guilty ruling,” Lee said. “This case may lead to a broader interpretation of what constitutes ‘justifiable grounds’ for self-defense in court.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-JU, LEE EUN-JI [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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