South Korea’s Supreme Court upheld on Nov. 5 the conviction of 43-year-old Korean actor Kang Ji-hwan, known for the K-dramas “Be Strong, Geum-soon!,” “Monster” and “Feel Good to Die.”

In a decision, the Supreme Court upheld the actor’s sentence of 2 years and six months suspended for three years for quasi-rape and quasi-indecent act by compulsion of two women at his home in Gwangju, South Korea last July 9, 2019.

The sentence was originally handed down by the Suwon District Court last December, which also ordered Kang Ji-hwan to attend 40 hours of sexual violence lectures and treatment, 120 hours of community service and is barred from being employed in children and youth institutions and welfare facilities for the disabled.

Before the sentence, the two victims and other colleagues asked the court not to punish Kang Ji-hwan. Despite this, the court convicted the actor although it handed down a suspended sentence.

“The defendant confessed to one criminal charge and contested another for lack of evidence, but his guilt has been recognized. It is wished that the petitions from his victims and acquaintances and his repeated repentance shown during previous hearings are genuine. Despite the victims' pleas for a lenient verdict, the defendant should repent for his sexual crime for the rest of his life,” the court said in its decision, according to Yonhap News.

He was convicted under Criminal Act’s Article 299 on “quasi-rape and quasi-indecent act by compulsion,” which states that “a person who has sexual intercourse with another or commits an indecent act on another by taking advantage of the other's condition of unconsciousness or inability to resist shall be punished.”

He was arrested last year for sexually assaulting two female employees of a subcontracting company at his home. The actor and the employees went to his house to drink after attending a dinner with employees of his agency and subcontractors.

One of the victims told the police that when she woke up, she saw Kang Ji-hwan trying to rape her colleague and screamed. She sent a text to a friend, who alerted the police.

In a statement he released in July 2019, Kang Ji-hwan admitted the crime, saying, “I acknowledge all the charges and apologize to the victims who have been severely hurt by my irreversible wrongdoing.” Kang Ji-hwan previously told the police he couldn’t remember what happened.

Kang Ji-hwan stepped down from his role in the 2019 drama “Joseon Survival Period” because of the scandal.