Police Investigating the 'Yakchon Five-Way Intersection Incident' Apologize to Victim After 22 Years... Lawsuit Withdrawn

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] A victim who was wrongfully imprisoned for 22 years after being accused as the perpetrator of the 'Yakchon Five-way Intersection Murder Case' received an apology from the police officer who investigated him and withdrew the lawsuit.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the victim, Mr. Choi, and the police officer Mr. Lee, who was affiliated with the Iksan Police Station at the time, reached a settlement on the 22nd through mediation by the Seoul High Court Civil Division 20-3 (Presiding Judges Park Sun-young, Kim Yong-ha, Hong Ji-young).

Mediation is a procedure induced when the court deems it preferable to resolve the matter through compromise between the plaintiff and defendant rather than by judgment.

Mr. Lee expressed his regret for not carefully considering the possibility that Mr. Choi was not the real culprit and apologized to Mr. Choi and his family as one of the parties involved. Mr. Choi decided to withdraw the damages claim lawsuit against Mr. Lee.

Mr. Park Jun-young, the legal representative of Mr. Choi, said, "There are still negative feelings toward Mr. Lee, and there are doubts about the sincerity of his belated apology, but I hope that he sincerely empathizes with the pain of the victims through this apology."

He added, "The victims also want to break free from the shackles of the case with the conclusion of the civil and criminal lawsuits," and "Thanks to the public's interest and support, the truth was revealed. We are grateful."

Mr. Choi was tried and sentenced to 10 years in prison for stabbing and killing taxi driver Mr. Yoo (then 42 years old) near the Yakchon Five-way Intersection in Yeongdeung-dong, Iksan, Jeonbuk, in 2000 when he was 16 years old. In 2003, the investigative agency received intelligence that the real culprit was someone else and arrested a suspect, but the case was closed due to lack of physical evidence. The suspect was not prosecuted at the time, but it was later revealed that he was the real culprit, and in 2018, a 15-year prison sentence was confirmed.

After completing his sentence, Mr. Choi filed for a retrial in 2013 and was acquitted in November 2016. This case, defended by lawyer Park Jun-young, was also depicted in the movie "Re-trial." Subsequently, Mr. Choi and his family filed a damages lawsuit against the government, Mr. Lee, and prosecutor Kim Hoon-young, who had decided not to prosecute the real culprit at the time, winning in the first trial and receiving a total compensation judgment of 1.6 billion KRW.

The government reportedly abandoned the appeal and paid the compensation to Mr. Choi. Prosecutor Kim also expressed his apology to Mr. Choi in December last year, leading to the withdrawal of the lawsuit.

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