Victim Paralyzed in Drunk Driving Crash... 30-Year-Old Sentenced to 5 Years Under Yoon Chang-ho Act

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] A court sentenced a man in his 30s to five years in prison for causing a four-vehicle collision that injured six people while driving under the influence. Even considering that the sentence was determined in conjunction with a separately prosecuted charge of special intimidation, this is the harshest sentence handed down by a court for a drunk driving injury case since the enactment of the so-called 'Yoon Chang-ho Act.'

According to the legal community on the 19th, Judge Ryu Il-geon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 26 sentenced Yoon Mo (36), who was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (dangerous driving causing injury) and special intimidation, to five years in prison and ordered his immediate detention. Although there have been about 6,700 cases sentenced for dangerous driving causing injury since the enforcement of the Yoon Chang-ho Act, such a severe sentence had not been practically imposed until now.

On November 30 last year, at around 2:16 a.m., Yoon was driving a Mercedes-Benz passenger car under the influence at an intersection in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul. He ran a red light and went straight, colliding with a Sonata passenger car that was traveling in another direction with a green light. As a result of the collision, the Sonata passenger car crashed into a Sonata taxi in the adjacent lane, which then collided sequentially with a K5 taxi in the next lane.

As a result of the accident, victim Park Mo (54), who was a passenger in the Sonata passenger car, suffered severe injuries including paralysis of all limbs due to cervical spinal cord damage. Five others, including Kim Mo (45), a passenger in the Sonata taxi, sustained minor injuries requiring about two weeks of treatment. At the time of the accident, Yoon’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.17%, which is above the license cancellation level of 0.08%.

Yoon was charged under the Yoon Chang-ho Act, which was enacted at the end of 2018. This law strengthens penalties for causing injury while driving under the influence, prescribing imprisonment from one year to 15 years or fines ranging from 10 million to 30 million won.

Prior to this accident, Yoon had already received a summary order for a fine of 3 million won in November 2007 for drunk driving. Judge Ryu pointed out, "Despite having a prior criminal record for drunk driving, the defendant committed drunk driving again in this case, causing a major chain collision traffic accident by running a red light."

Judge Ryu emphasized, "Victim Park suffered very serious injuries including paralysis of all limbs, and it is expected that the victim and their family will endure severe mental and physical suffering for a long time. Nevertheless, the defendant appears to have made no effort to compensate the victims, making a prison sentence unavoidable."

The sentence was handed down in conjunction with a special intimidation case in which Yoon forcibly entered the home of Jeong Mo, who borrowed money from him earlier this year and failed to repay it, threatening him with a weapon. However, Judge Ryu took into account that "the defendant was a victim of Jeong’s loan fraud and committed the trespassing and special intimidation during an excessive demand for repayment, and is sincerely remorseful." The basic sentencing guideline for special intimidation under the Supreme Court is imprisonment from four months to one year and six months, but in cases with mitigating factors like Yoon’s, probation is generally granted.

After the sentencing, Yoon requested, "I want to be prescribed medication for a mental illness I have been suffering from. Could my imprisonment be postponed for just one day?" The court denied the request, saying, "Consult with the detention center medical staff." Yoon filed an appeal the day after the sentencing.

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