Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Drunk driver hits, kills, boy, 8
The crosswalk where the young boy was killed by a drunk driver in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
A drunk driver struck and killed a boy, 8, who was on his way to school Thursday in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province.
The incident happened about 8 a.m. at a crosswalk at an intersection near Buchun Elementary School, where the boy was heading, according to Seosan Police Station.
The drunk man, in his 60s, was driving an SUV. The victim was taken to hospital but died soon after.
Seosan Police Station confirmed that the driver's blood alcohol level was 0.031 percent, high enough for his license to be revoked. He told police he had consumed three glasses of liquor the day before.
The accident site, only 120 meters from the school, was not designated as a school zone. The Road Traffic Act states that an area within 300 meters of the main gate of an elementary school can be designated.
It is therefore unlikely the driver will be charged with violating the so-called “Min-sik law,” a traffic-related bill revised in March that carries the name of a nine-year-old boy who was killed in a car accident in a school zone in 2019 in Asan, South Chungcheong Province.
Under the law, a driver convicted of killing a child under 13 in a school zone can be sentenced to a minimum three years in prison and up to life imprisonment.