Court Sentences 50s to Prison Again for Habitual False Reports Including 'President Assassination Plan'

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] A man in his 50s who repeatedly made false reports to the 112 emergency call center, including claims that he had planned to assassinate the president, and even assaulted responding police officers, was sentenced to prison again in the second trial.

According to the court on the 20th, the 8-1 Criminal Appeals Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Kim Ye-young, Lee Won-shin, Kim Woo-jung) recently reduced the fine by 100,000 won and sentenced Kim Mo (57), who was indicted on charges including obstruction of official duties by deception, obstruction of official duties, and violation of the Minor Offenses Act, to one year in prison and a fine of 100,000 won. In the first trial, he was sentenced to one year in prison and fined 200,000 won.

Kim was indicted for making false reports to 112 from his home in Jongno-gu, Seoul, in April last year, including claims such as "I planned to assassinate President Moon Jae-in" and "I used drugs."

Despite being convicted of similar offenses in 2018, he committed the crimes again. After being indicted, in July of the same year, he was reportedly intoxicated and repeatedly called 112, using abusive language and assaulting the responding police officers.

Kim appealed the first trial, claiming that he suffered from chronic alcohol dependence and depression, and that he was in a state of diminished mental capacity due to intoxication at the time of the crimes.

However, the court stated, "Although it is acknowledged that Kim suffers from chronic alcohol dependence and depression and was intoxicated at the time of each offense, it is difficult to recognize that these circumstances alone rendered him incapable of distinguishing objects or making decisions," rejecting Kim's claim of diminished mental capacity.

The court further pointed out, "Even if diminished mental capacity is assumed, since he habitually committed similar offenses while intoxicated, this indicates that he foresaw the risk and voluntarily caused his mental impairment."

Article 10 of the Criminal Act (Persons with Mental Disorders) allows for sentence mitigation for those with diminished mental capacity in paragraph 2, but paragraph 3 excludes cases where the individual foresaw the risk and voluntarily caused their mental impairment from such mitigation.

However, the court explained the reason for the reduced fine, stating, "Kim habitually made false reports whenever he was intoxicated, and the police officers who received the calls or responded could have recognized the high likelihood of false reports. As a result, significant obstruction to the exercise of public authority did not occur."

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