Supreme Court: "No Guilt for Water Leisure Sports Company Officials in Death Accident... 'Heart Disease' May Be the Cause"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Supreme Court has ruled that a related company cannot be held liable for professional negligence in the death of a man in his 50s who died while riding a blob jump, one of the water leisure sports.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seon-su) announced on the 12th that it upheld the original ruling that acquitted Mr. A, the operator of the water leisure company, who was indicted on charges of professional negligence causing death.

However, Mr. A was found guilty only of violating the Water Leisure Safety Act by installing and operating the blob jump without changing the registration details as a water leisure business operator, and a fine of 3 million won was confirmed.

The court stated, "There is no error in the original court's judgment to acquit on the grounds that there is no proof of the crime, and no mistake in the legal principles regarding the establishment of professional negligence causing death."

Mr. A operated a water leisure business in Chuncheon-si. On June 10, 2017, at 6:36 p.m., he informed four people including Mr. B (then 54) who visited the company to ride the blob jump about how to use it and helped them to ride.

The blob jump is a new type of water leisure sport that uses air movement to fly up and free fall into the water, based on a principle similar to a seesaw.

At that time, Mr. B jumped from the second-floor jumping platform, fell into the water, and then went under the barge, completely submerging underwater. He was rescued and taken to the hospital for treatment but died at around 7:19 p.m. the same day.

The autopsy revealed that the most likely cause of death was ischemic heart disease (including acute myocardial infarction) that Mr. A had been suffering from.

However, the prosecution indicted Mr. A, claiming that he was negligent in fulfilling his duty of care by failing to install safety devices to prevent users who fell into the water from going under the barge.

The first trial court judged that the victim, Mr. B, died from a pre-existing heart condition rather than drowning at the time of the accident and acquitted Mr. A of professional negligence causing death.

The second trial court also upheld the first trial's judgment, stating, "The autopsy did not find any signs such as foam in the airway or plankton that would indicate drowning. It is possible that the victim's vital signs had already weakened to an irreversible extent around the time he fell into the water."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.