"Incident Details Differ from Known Facts"…Warrants Denied for High School Students Accused of Assault Resulting in Death of 30s Family Man

Court: "Need to Guarantee Defendant's Right to Defense When Exact Cause of Death Is Unclear"

On the 10th, two teenagers including A, who are accused of assault leading to death, were being transported for a warrant hearing at the Uijeongbu District Court in Ganeung-dong, Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] The detention warrants requested for two high school students who assaulted a man in his 30s returning home drunk in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, resulting in his death, have been dismissed.

At around 10:30 a.m. on the 13th, Judge Jang Chang-guk, in charge of warrants at the Uijeongbu District Court, stated the reason for dismissal: "The circumstances of the assault causing death differ from what has been reported in the media, and since the exact cause of death has not been determined, it is necessary to protect the suspects' right to defense."

The two suspects, including A, who had detention warrants requested on charges of assault causing death, appeared at the Uijeongbu District Court on the morning of the 13th to attend the pre-detention suspect hearing (warrant substantive examination).

Wearing black hats and white masks, they did not respond to reporters' questions such as "Do you admit the charges?" or "Do you have any words for the bereaved family?" and headed to the courtroom. Even after the warrant substantive examination, they remained silent and boarded the transport vehicle.

Photo by Cheongwadae National Petition Board capture

Earlier, around 10:45 p.m. on the 4th, A and others are accused of causing the death of a man in his 30s, B, after a physical altercation at a plaza in Minrak-dong, Uijeongbu. B was taken to the hospital unconscious but ultimately died the next day, on the 5th.

The police, who responded to the report, secured nearby closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and arrested two of six high school students present at the scene who were confirmed to have participated in the assault as caught in the act, and later conducted additional investigations leading to one more person being booked.

After the incident, a relative of the deceased man posted on the Blue House National Petition Board claiming that "the high school students were drinking and deliberately provoked a fight."

However, A and others, while admitting to the assault charges, reportedly stated that "B first provoked and assaulted us, and we acted impulsively in self-defense," adding that "there was no intention to kill B."

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