An appeals court upheld rapper Iron’s 2016 sentence of eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, after a lower court found him guilty of multiple counts of assault.
The Seoul Central District Court on Thursday found Iron, 26, guilty of assaulting his former girlfriend on several occasions, including an assault during a sexual encounter.
He was also ordered to perform 80 hours of community service.
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(Yonhap) |
Iron was booked without detention in September 2016 after punching his girlfriend in the face while they were having sex. The police report said he had done so for “not listening to his requests.”
The following month, when the victim tried to end the relationship, Iron strangled her and hit her in the face multiple times.
The police investigation found that the rapper issued threats to stop the victim from reporting his violence to police, at one point injuring himself with a kitchen knife and saying he would blame it on her.
The court also censured Iron for revealing the victim’s identity in media interviews and publicly calling her a masochist.
“The victim is suffering tremendous psychological pain, on top of the physical ordeal she has undergone,” the court said. “She continues to appeal for severe punishment.”
Iron was convicted in November 2016 and the prosecution appealed the sentence, seeking a year of actual prison time.
“It wouldn’t be strange to hand an actual term to the defendant, and questions remain as to whether he truly repents of his wrongdoing,” the court said, admonishing the rapper to apologize to the victim and make amends for his crime.
Iron was present at the court and acknowledged the court’s reproach.
In November 2016, Iron also received a sentence of eight months’ imprisonment, suspended for two years, for marijuana use. He did not appeal the sentence.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)
