Choi Mal-ja was convicted for biting off her sexual attacker's tongue in 1964. She may finally clear her name.
CBSJUL 20
S. Korea Reopens 61-Year-Old Sexual Assault Self-Defense Case
Above: Choi Mal-ja celebrates after receiving an apology from prosecutors during her retrial in South Korea. Image copyright: Yonhap/AFP/Getty Images via The Guardian
The Spin
Narrative A
This retrial represents long-overdue justice for a woman failed by a discriminatory legal system. The original prosecution was fundamentally flawed — they protected the perpetrator while criminalizing the victim's natural survival instinct. Choi's case shows how patriarchal attitudes historically pervaded South Korean courts, where women defending themselves faced harsher punishment than their attackers.
Narrative B
While the retrial rightly acknowledges past mistakes, it also raises concerns about the application of retroactive justice. The original verdict reflected legal standards of its time, and overturning decades-old cases based on evolving social attitudes could set problematic precedents for the stability of legal decisions and finality of court rulings. The focus should instead be on ensuring this type of mistake never happens again.