Police said Wednesday they requested a court warrant to arrest Lee Youn-taek, a famed theatrical director, on multiple sexual assault charges.
Lee, 66, is accused of sexually assaulting 17 junior colleagues from his famous drama troupe over 62 occasions from 1999 to last year, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. He was questioned by police on Saturday and Sunday.
Lee Youn-taek, a disgraced South Korean theater writer and director, is seen at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Sunday, where he appeared for questioning over multiple sexual assault allegations. (Yonhap)
Lee is one of the high-profile South Korean men to be toppled over allegations of sexual misconduct as the "Me Too" movement quickly spreads in the country. Sixteen women have filed a complaint with state prosecutors seeking an investigation into Lee, claiming that they are all victims of his repeated sexual assaults.
Victims have alleged he raped many women over the years. But police said Thursday rape charges cannot be placed under current law, which only began in 2013 to allow investigations of sex offenses without the victim's official complaint and many of the alleged incidents happened before that.
He is said to have admitted to all charges, saying, "It must have been true if victims said so." (Yonhap)
