20s Man and Woman Involved in 'Bar Shoulder Bump Dispute'... Man Fined After Posting on SNS and Then Assaulting

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] A man in his 20s who assaulted a woman in a bar restroom was sentenced to a fine. The two had a dispute after bumping shoulders, and the man committed the crime while protesting the fact that the woman posted about the incident on her personal social networking service (SNS).

According to the legal community on the 26th, Judge Nam Shinhyang of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 17 recently sentenced A (26) to a fine of 4 million won on charges of injury.

Earlier, A was prosecuted for causing injury after getting into a verbal altercation with B (24, female) around 1 a.m. on April 5 last year on the stairs of a bar in Jongno-gu, Seoul, after bumping shoulders, and then going to protest after B posted about it on her personal SNS.

Initially, A left the scene immediately after the verbal altercation, but a few hours later, he found out that the post had been uploaded on B’s SNS account. He then obtained her contact information and attempted to reach out to B, and it was confirmed that he went to another bar B had mentioned.

A is accused of pulling B back into the restroom as she was leaving, knocking her down, locking the door, and hitting her face and other areas multiple times, causing injury. As a result, B was found to have sustained injuries requiring two weeks of medical treatment.

A’s side denied the charges in court. They argued, “B suddenly rushed at me in the restroom and hit my shin,” and “Although I tried to stop her, B kept coming at me, and in the process of pushing her away, she bumped into the urinal; I never assaulted her.”

However, the court did not accept these claims. The court pointed out, “The victim gave a detailed and generally consistent account of the circumstances and sequence of the injury,” and “Considering that the witness statements at the time largely align with this, it is recognized that the defendant committed the assault.” The court further emphasized, “The defendant denied the charges and did not sincerely reflect on his wrongdoing, and he was not forgiven by the victim.”

Nonetheless, the court stated, “Since it appears that the defendant went to protest because the victim posted their argument on her SNS, there are mitigating circumstances regarding the circumstances of the crime,” and “Considering that the victim’s injuries were not severe and other sentencing factors, the sentence was determined.”

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