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.
Man's jail sentence upheld over violence toward foreign women for 'giving wrong directions'
The Seoul Central District Court building / Korea Times file
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
An appellate court in Seoul upheld a lower court ruling on Monday that sentenced a man to one year in prison for assaulting two women of foreign nationality for “giving the wrong directions.”
The appellate department of the Seoul Central District Court issued the sentence to the man, in his 40s, who was convicted of verbally and physically assaulting the women at around 6 p.m., June 6, 2020, in Seocho District, Seoul.
He attacked the women after they gave him the wrong directions. He threw a plastic bag filled with canned beverages and swore at them “for lying to him.”
He was also additionally accused of assaulting an employee at a bar in the district, at around 10:30 p.m. on Aug. 29 of last year, who stopped him from repeatedly approaching foreign women at the bar. The women were trying to avoid him by changing seats. He shoved the employee and then ran away, but when the employee went after him, he assaulted the worker.
The lower court sentenced him to one year in prison, and the appeals court upheld the ruling, saying that the man has had seven previous convictions of assault since 2010, but yet again committed a crime in less than a year since he was released from prison in November 2019.
“He threw dangerous objects at the victims for no particular reason. Also, he did not put any efforts into rectifying the situation or seeking forgiveness,” it said in the ruling.