Court Sentences Man to 1 Year Imprisonment for Leaving a Weapon in Front of Han Dong-hoon's Residence

A man in his 40s who was prosecuted for leaving a weapon in front of the house of Han Dong-hoon, the Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party, while Han was serving as Minister of Justice, was sentenced to prison in the first trial.

Handonghun, Emergency Response Committee Chairman of the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 28th, the Criminal Division 32 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Cho Seung-woo) sentenced Hong Mo (43), who was detained and prosecuted on charges including special intimidation and violation of the Stalking Punishment Act, to one year in prison.

The court stated, "The defendant was deluded that the victim, who was the Minister of Justice, was harassing him, carried a dangerous object, trespassed into the residence, and left the dangerous object as a threat. The crime was committed against a high-ranking public official using a weapon, which shows a bad nature of the crime and a high possibility of blame for the motive."

It added, "The crime was committed in a planned manner, including scouting the residence twice, and despite being under probation for another crime, the defendant committed this crime, showing a lack of remorse."

Hong was detained and prosecuted for leaving a weapon and an ignition lighter in front of Chairman Han’s residence in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, in the early morning of October 11 last year.

The court judged that Hong had the intent to threaten based on his statement that the reason for leaving the weapon was to send a warning message meaning 'I could also use dangerous objects, but I left it behind. I was showing you mercy.'

It also stated that although Hong appeared to have committed the crime in a state of diminished mental capacity due to delusions that Chairman Han was harassing him, this was not considered a reason to reduce the sentence.

However, considering that Hong’s act of scouting around Chairman Han’s residence before the crime could not be seen as waiting for the victim, and that the act of leaving the weapon was a one-time occurrence, the court acquitted him of violating the Stalking Punishment Act.

Immediately after the verdict was announced, Hong shouted, "The state harassed me," and "Don’t silence me," and was restrained.

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