Supreme Court Confirms Prison Sentences for Pension Owner and Others in 'Gangneung Pension Tragedy'

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The pension operator and the boiler installation company representative, who were prosecuted in connection with the 'Gangneung Pension Tragedy' where 10 high school students who had finished the CSAT died or were injured, have been sentenced to prison terms.

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Park Sang-ok) on the 29th upheld the original sentence of one year imprisonment for pension operator Kim, who was charged with professional negligence causing death and violation of the Framework Act on the Construction Industry. Following this ruling, the company representative Choi, who installed the boiler at the pension, was sentenced to two years in prison; An, who carried out the boiler installation work, received two years imprisonment; and Kim, an inspector from the Korea Gas Safety Corporation, was sentenced to one year and six months imprisonment.

The court stated, "There is no error in the original court's recognition of the defendants' professional negligence, nor any mistake in fact-finding beyond the limits of free evaluation of evidence or misinterpretation of the law."

Kim and others were prosecuted for a fatal accident that occurred in December 2018 at a pension in Gangneung. Ten high school seniors who had finished the CSAT and traveled from Seoul to Gangneung stayed at the pension and were found unconscious around 1 p.m. the next day. It was investigated that they lost consciousness due to carbon monoxide poisoning from leakage inside the pension. Three people died and seven were injured in this accident.

The prosecution focused on problems with the boiler installed at the pension and prosecuted nine people including pension operator Kim and boiler installer Choi for professional negligence causing death. The first trial sentenced Kim to one year and six months imprisonment and Choi to two years imprisonment. The second trial stated, "Apart from Kim's broad duty of care as a lodging business operator, it is necessary to consider that he inevitably lacked some professional knowledge about gas boilers," and reduced Kim's sentence from one year and six months imprisonment to one year imprisonment, overturning the first trial's ruling.

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