A South Korean woman has been acquitted after a court revisited her decades-old conviction for biting off the tongue of a man during an alleged sexual attack. Choi Mal-ja was 18 when she was convicted of grievous bodily harm and sentenced to 10 months in jail. Her aggressor, who was 21, received a lighter sentence of six months. After a years-long campaign to clear her name, a retrial began in the southern city of Busan in July. In its first hearing, prosecutors apologised to her and, in an unusual move, asked the court to quash the conviction. I could not let this case go unanswered... I [wanted] to stand up for other victims who share the same fate as mine, Ms Choi said after the acquittal. As a teenager, the incident had transformed her from victim to accused. Despite warnings from those around her that her efforts were futile, Ms Choi, now 79, persisted, thanking her supporters and calling out those in power whom she accuses of abusing authority. Her case is often cited in South Korea as an instance of judicial failures to recognize self-defense in sexual violence cases. After being pinned to the ground, she bit off about 1.5cm (0.59in) of her attacker's tongue to break free. The attacker had repeatedly demanded compensation for his injury and even broke into her home brandishing a knife. The South Korean courts had initially ruled in his favor with a six-month suspended sentence for trespassing and intimidation, with no charges for attempted rape. In Ms Choi's retrial, her lawyer criticized the earlier conviction as a reflection of gender bias. The Supreme Court's decision to reopen the case in December 2024 reflects changing societal perceptions surrounding women's rights and self-defense. The landmark verdict is seen as a significant step towards justice for victims of sexual violence.