A local court on Wednesday upheld the conviction of a former parliamentary leader accused of sexually harassing a golf caddie.

The appeals department of the Chuncheon District Court sentenced Park Hee-tae to six months in jail with a one-year suspension for inappropriately touching a 24-year-old female caddie several times at a golf course in Wonju, Gangwon Province, some 132 kilometers southeast of Seoul, in 2014. Park led the National Assembly from 2010 to 2012.

The court also ordered Park, 77, to receive 40 hours of anti-sexual violence education.

Despite the fact that the defendant reached a settlement with the victim and that he is very old, the original sentence was not too heavy, the court said.

"There is huge room for criticism as a former chairman of the National Assembly who should set an example (for people)," the court added. (Yonhap)