Park Dae-chul Criticizes "Busan Roundhouse Kick" Verdict as Failing to Meet Public Sentiment

Park Dae-chul, the Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, criticized the appellate court's decision on June 12 to sentence the defendant in the so-called "Busan Roundhouse Kick" case to 20 years in prison for the indiscriminate assault that left a woman in her 20s unconscious while she was on her way home in Seomyeon, central Busan. Park stated, "Although the sentence is longer than the first trial, it still falls far short of the public's sense of justice," and announced plans to push for easing the standards for disclosing offenders' personal information.

On June 12, Park wrote on his social networking service (SNS), "The everyday life of the victim is more important than the 'human rights of the perpetrator,'" expressing his stance on the issue.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He stated, "The most controversial aspect of this case has been the disclosure of the perpetrator's personal information," and explained, "The police investigated this case as causing serious injury and referred it to the prosecution, which charged the defendant with attempted murder as an alternative indictment. In such situations, disclosure of personal information is only possible after a final conviction."

Park further commented, "Under the current law, even if guilty verdicts are rendered in both the first and second trials, we have no choice but to wait until the final ruling. Legal revisions are urgently needed. For such heinous crimes, we will discuss ways to ease the standards for disclosing personal information and to expand the scope of disclosure."

He added, "We will comprehensively review measures to allow disclosure of personal information even during the trial stage if certain conditions are met," and emphasized, "Protecting the everyday lives of citizens is the duty of politics."

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