Squid Game actor O Yeong-su has been convicted of sexual harassment and given an eight-month suspended prison sentence by a court in South Korea.

The 79-year-old actor, who was charged with two counts of sexual harassment in 2017, had denied the allegations.

The Seongnam branch of the Suwon District Court also ordered him to attend a sexual violence treatment program.

As he left the court on Friday, he told reporters he planned to appeal against the decision.

He has seven days to do this or the ruling will be upheld.

The controversy over the accusations of sexual harassment saw him dropping out of an upcoming film in South Korea, Reuters news agency reported.

The actor rose to international fame after starring in Netflix show Squid Game.

The star played the key character of Oh II-nam in the first season of the Korean drama.

He won Best Supporting Actor in Television at the Golden Globes for his role in the show in 2022, becoming the first South Korean to win the award.

The story of drama, which is set in South Korea, follows people who are heavily in debt and invited to play a series of challenges that could see them scoop a huge cash prize. The twist is that the penalty for losing is death.

It was later turned into a real-life game show, also by Netflix, called Squid Game: The Challenge. Thankfully, the spin-off ditched the fatal consequences of losing.