'KBS Radio Gokgwaegi Rampage' 40s Male Sentenced to 1 Year 6 Months in Prison

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] A man in his 40s who was prosecuted for breaking the glass window of the KBS open radio studio's exterior wall with a pickaxe was sentenced to imprisonment in the first trial.

On the 9th, Judge Kwon Young-hye of the Seoul Southern District Court Criminal Division 14 sentenced defendant A, who was charged with special property damage and obstruction of business, to 1 year and 6 months in prison and ordered A to pay over 33 million won to KBS, the compensation applicant.

The court explained, "The defendant committed a crime that could cause serious harm to a person's body or property with a dangerous object," and "As a result, the broadcast was interrupted, and the damage has not been recovered at all."

On August 5, A broke the glass window of the exterior wall of the open radio hall studio in front of the KBS headquarters in Yeouido with a pickaxe, disrupting the live radio broadcast and causing a disturbance, and was arrested on the spot and later detained. At that time, 'Hwang Jung-min's Music Show' was being broadcast in the studio. Although no one was injured, announcer Hwang Jung-min, who was conducting the broadcast, was hospitalized due to post-traumatic stress disorder and other reasons.

Earlier, the prosecution requested a 3-year prison sentence at the sentencing hearing. The defense attorney pleaded for leniency, stating, "Since around 2005, A has been treated for depression and paranoid schizophrenia, but the symptoms had never fully manifested, so the family was not well aware of his condition."

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