Squid Game actor O Yeong-su has been cleared of sexual assault after a court in South Korea ruled that the alleged victim's memory may have been distorted.

The 81-year-old was charged in 2022 with sexually assaulting a woman twice, after allegedly hugging her and kissing her on the cheek against her will.

Yeong-su was found guilty in 2024 and sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, but he said he would appeal against the verdict.

On Tuesday, a court overturned his sentence, saying he had undergone classes on sexual violence and suggesting that the alleged victim's memory may have been 'distorted', given how long it had been since the incidents occurred.

The incidents took place when O was staying in a rural area for a theatre performance in 2017, on a walking path and in front of the victim's residence, respectively, according to the Suwon District Court.

The alleged victim filed a complaint against Yeong-su in 2021, but the case was closed in April of the same year.

The prosecution later reopened the investigation 'at the request of the victim,' according to Yonhap agency.

In a statement reported by local media outlets, the Suwon District Court said there was 'doubt' as to whether the Golden Globe Award winner had committed the assault.

'There is a possibility that the victim's memory has been distorted over time, and when there is doubt... the defendant must be given the benefit of the doubt'. 

But the statement continued on to say that it was possible Yeong-su had committed the assault as he had issued an apology to the alleged victim.

The alleged victim later spoke out against the verdict, saying it would not 'invalidate the truth or erase the pain I have suffered'.  

'Despite today's ruling, I will continue to speak the truth to the very end,' she said in a statement released through women's rights organisation Womenlink. 

The organisation also hit out at the ruling, saying they were 'outraged by a ruling that once again conceals sexual violence in the theatre world'.

It has not yet been made clear whether the prosecution will appeal.

Following the court ruling, Yeong-su spoke to local media, telling reporters he had 'gratitude to the court or its wise judgement'.

The elderly actor in 2022 became the first South Korean to win a Golden Globe Award for best supporting actor in a series for his performance as a seemingly vulnerable old man in the mega-hit Netflix dystopian thriller.

He played the elderly character O II-nam, one of the main antagonists of the first season of Squid Game.

The series that depicts a dark world where marginalised individuals are forced to compete in deadly versions of traditional children's games, quickly gained immense popularity on Netflix.

Within less than four weeks of its release in 2021, it attracted a staggering 111 million viewers.

The show's success has amplified South Korea's increasingly outsized influence on global popular culture, following global fame won by the likes of K-pop band BTS and the Oscar-winning film 'Parasite'.

The controversy over the accusations of sexual harassment saw Yeong-su drop out of an upcoming film in South Korea.