Photographing woman's legs not harassment in Korea

South Korea's top court ruled that a man who photographed the legs of a woman wearing a miniskirt without her knowledge was not committing sexual harassment, reports have said.

The Supreme Court recently upheld a lower court's acquittal of the man, identified as Mr Kim, who was indicted for taking the shot of the woman in her 20s while on the underground in late 2006, Yonhap news agency said.

Mr Kim, who is in his 30s, used a camera in his mobile phone to take the picture of the woman as she sat in front of him, Yonhap said citing court records.

Police later found the photo in his handset as they questioned him over another unidentified issue and charged him with sexual harassment, it said.

"It is difficult to say that the accused took a picture of someone else's body parts to cause sexual desire or shame," a ruling said, according to Yonhap which gave no other details.

In South Korea, any unauthorised filming of someone else's body parts to create sexual desire or shame constitutes sexual harassment - a crime subject to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($US10,000 dollars).

Women's groups have protested the court's acquittal.

Source AFP







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