Ko’s sentence reduced

Entertainer Ko Young-wook, a member of ’90s pop group Roora, is still going to prison for raping and sexually assaulting teenage girls. However, after his latest appeal, the Seoul High Court has cut his jail time in half, reducing it to two and a half years.

Ko will have to wear a monitoring anklet that tracks his whereabouts for three years after his prison sentence and register as a sex offender for five years.

“[The defendant] committed more crimes while he was being investigated, targeting young women who were impressed by his celebrity status,” said the judge who presided over his case.

“The court cannot give any advantage to a celebrity over a regular person. However, because Ko appears to have repented, we will reduce the sentence to the lightest prison time allowed by law.

The court also reduced the time Ko will have to wear the monitor because it said that Ko’s fame and the high-profile of his case would make the public wary of him.

Ko was accused of raping and sexually assaulting several teenagers from July 2010 to December of 2012.

By Lee Sun-min