"Why Can't I Smoke in PC Bang?"... High School Student Threatens Employee with Weapon, Receives Suspended Sentence

Weapon rampage (illustration) / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] A high school student who wielded a weapon because he was not allowed to smoke in a PC room was sentenced to probation.

On the 27th, Judge Ko Chun-soon of the Criminal Division 3 at Cheongju District Court announced that A (19), who was charged with attempted special injury and special intimidation, was sentenced to one year in prison with two years of probation.

A, a third-year high school student, was smoking in a PC room in Jeungpyeong-gun, Chungbuk Province on December 20 last year. When the owner stopped him, he called 112 and reported, "The PC room owner is cursing; can I bring a knife from home and kill him?"

He then tried to stab the wrist of employee B (24), who was at the counter, with a box cutter but was caught by the police who arrived after the report.

Two days later, A returned to the PC room and, when denied entry due to youth usage restrictions, pulled out a weapon and threatened employee C (46) by saying things like "I don't want to stab you."

Judge Ko stated, "The crime of easily losing anger and wielding a weapon against a person is serious, and there is a risk of reoffending. However, considering the need for treatment for mental illnesses such as depression and anger control disorder, as well as the victims' wishes not to punish, the sentence was determined."

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