Supreme Court: "Even if the owner is assaulted over a dispute about the alcohol bill, it is not robbery if there was an intention to pay"

Supreme Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul. Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The Supreme Court has ruled that even if someone assaults a pub owner and employees causing injury over a dispute about the price of alcohol, they cannot be punished for robbery and injury if they had the intention to pay the money.

On the 18th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Kim Jaehyung) announced that it overturned the original sentence of 3 years and 6 months imprisonment in the appeal trial of Kim, who was charged with robbery and injury, and remanded the case to the Seoul High Court.

Previously, Kim was prosecuted for assaulting and injuring the pub owner and employees after drinking alcohol worth approximately 160,000 won at a pub in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province in 2019, but only paying 22,000 won and refusing to pay the rest.

The first trial sentenced him to 5 years imprisonment, judging that even temporarily evading the payment of the alcohol bill constituted a property benefit, which is a requirement for the establishment of robbery.

The second trial found Kim guilty but reduced the sentence to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment, considering that the acquired property benefit was not significant and that the victims who reached an agreement with him expressed that they did not wish for punishment.

However, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial and reconsideration of the case. The court stated, "For robbery and injury to be established, robbery must be established first, and for robbery to be established, there must be an intention of unlawful possession or unlawful gain," and pointed out that "the lower court erred in its understanding of the legal principles regarding the intention of unlawful gain in robbery and injury."

The court focused on the fact that at the time of the incident, Kim had presented a check card to pay the alcohol bill but the payment was declined due to insufficient balance, and that when the police arrived, Kim was lying on the floor of the pub without leaving the scene. It also considered that Kim had paid for alcohol without any issues multiple times at other karaoke rooms or pubs on the same day as a basis for its judgment.

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