"Stop" Child Avoiding Gyeongju School Zone Says Chasing SUV Was 'Scary'

Police Interviewed Child Victim About Accident
Analyzing CCTV and Black Box Footage, Investigating Intentionality

On the 25th, a passenger car rear-ended a bicycle ridden by an elementary school student in a child protection zone near an elementary school in Dongcheon-dong, Gyeongju-si, Gyeongbuk. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Ju-hyung] A 9-year-old boy, A, who was a victim of a traffic accident in a school zone in Gyeongju, testified to the police on the 29th about the situation at the time of the accident. A's explanation was found to be consistent with the testimony previously given by his older sister.

The Gyeongbuk Gyeongju Police Department stated that after calling A on the same day and hearing his explanation of the situation, A testified the same content as his sister, who had appeared before the police on the 28th and released a video.

A reportedly said that while riding his bicycle and trying to escape, a voice saying "Stop" was heard and a car chased him, which he described as "scary."

Meanwhile, the police have secured the black box of the SUV driver who collided with the bicycle A was riding and are investigating the pursuit process. The police plan to examine both the video released by the victim's side and the black box footage to determine whether the driver acted intentionally.

They also sent the secured footage to the National Forensic Service to request an analysis of the vehicle's speed and plan to summon B, an 11-year-old boy who fled with A at the time of the accident, for additional investigation.

The accident occurred around 1:40 p.m. on the 25th near Dongcheon Elementary School in Dongcheon-dong school zone when an SUV rear-ended A's bicycle.

The victim's side claimed that the SUV driver chased and hit them for about 200 meters from a nearby playground. A's older sister posted CCTV footage capturing the situation on social networking services (SNS) on the 26th, the day after the accident, claiming, "My younger brother had a fight with the driver's child (5 years old) at the playground, and the driver chased and deliberately caused the accident."

The video spread on internet communities, sparking controversy. Since the 27th, the police have formed a joint investigation team consisting of the traffic crime investigation team and the criminal investigation team to investigate the accident.

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