"Gym Owner Drowned in Prank but Heart Attack? ... Petition to Cheong to Clear the Deceased's Name Gains Attention"

"Wearing luxury pants even at funerals... Completely disrespectful to the deceased"

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Recently, a petition has sparked controversy, calling for justice for a 20-year-old fitness trainer who drowned after being pushed into the water by the gym owner while they were playing together.

On the 1st, a petition titled "We urge the strict punishment of the gym owner who caused my friend to drown and die. Please clear my friend's name" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. The petition has met the threshold of over 100 preliminary consents, and the administrator is reviewing its public release.

The petitioner, who introduced themselves as a friend of the deceased fitness trainer, said, "My friend was a trainer working at a gym in Suseong-gu, Daegu, and on July 24th, went on a company outing to Hapcheon, Gyeongnam, with the gym owner and other staff."

They continued, "Due to the gym owner's prank, my friend and another employee fell into the water. The other employee surfaced immediately after falling in, but my friend struggled underwater several times and sank, never to return to us."

The petitioner added, "Fortunately, one employee was filming, and the video remains as evidence," and said, "I want to address the shameless, cruel behavior of the owner who feels no remorse."

First, the petitioner claimed, "Before the video was released, the owner called my friend's close associates and lied, saying 'while playing in the valley, my friend suddenly had a heart attack and seizure, sinking instantly with no chance to save him,' which killed the deceased twice over."

They further emphasized, "Some acquaintances mistakenly believed the deceased died of a heart attack due to heavy drug use, but the cause of death was drowning, not a heart attack."

Additionally, the petitioner said, "On the day of the funeral, the owner showed no respect for the deceased, coming wearing wax and BB cream and luxury pants," and added, "Although he should have knelt before the bereaved family, he instead had his father apologize on his behalf."

The petitioner also criticized the owner's attitude after the funeral. "The day after the funeral, on the 26th, the gym reopened. When friends came to retrieve the deceased's trophies, club music was playing, and employees were working," they explained. "After complaints, the gym closed for a week starting the 27th and planned to reopen on August 2nd."

Furthermore, they appealed, "Currently, the owner has been booked without detention on charges of negligent homicide, as intent to kill has not been recognized by the police," and said, "Despite causing my friend's death by pushing him, the owner's psychopathic behavior shows no remorse, making the negligent homicide charge unfair."

Finally, the petitioner said, "My friend used to call the owner 'hyung' (older brother) and even worked unpaid in poor conditions," and pleaded, "Please clear my friend's name, who passed away tragically at the young age of twenty-nine."

According to the police, at around 10:20 a.m. on the 24th of last month, at a water play facility at Hapcheon Lake in Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam, A, a man in his 30s and owner of a gym in Daegu, pushed his colleagues B and C, both in their 20s, into the water.

C managed to swim to shore on their own, but B struggled briefly before sinking underwater. B was found dead about an hour later by fire authorities who responded to the report.

A reportedly told the police, "I pushed them into the water as a joke, and I thought B was pretending to struggle because of the joke." Currently, A is booked without detention on charges of negligent homicide.

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