South Korea indicts woman on rape charges for the first time in its history

For the first time in history, South Korea has indicted a woman on rape charges.

According to Korean media portal Yonhap, a 45-year-old divorced woman only identified as Jeon was found guilty for attempted rape after it was revealed that she had tried to drug a man to sexually abuse him, slipping a sleeping pill called Zolpidem into his red ginseng tea.

The man she attempted to rape last year was identified as her 51-year-old boyfriend.

The prosecution revealed that the couple had initially met at a bicycle club in 2011 and had date for four years despite the boyfriend being married to another woman, whom he has two children with. The boyfriend attempted to end their relationship in August, meeting up at Jeon’s place where she then drugged him, tying him to her bed with rope and towels.

She also faces a charge of battery and assault from the boyfriend, whom she also attacked with a blunt object (a hammer) after he attempted to flee upon waking up, telling him, “It’s all over, I’m going to kill you.”

This is the first time in South Korean history that a woman has indicted with rape charges as the Korean government did not acknowledge females as rapists until a law revision that occurred in June 2013.

Source: Korea Herald and Korea Times