"I Was Afraid to Go Home"... Busan Spinning Kick Victim Testifies in Court

Perpetrator Serving 20-Year Prison Sentence
"I Was Even Afraid to Enter My Own Home"

CCTV footage of the Busan spinning kick incident. Photo by The Asia Business Daily Database

The victim, identified as A, in the Busan spinning kick incident testified in court, "After hearing that the perpetrator in the detention center mentioned my home address and said, 'I will escape and take revenge,' I felt such overwhelming fear that it became difficult for me to return home."

On November 13, the Busan District Court Western Branch Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Jugwan) held a trial for Lee, the perpetrator of the Busan spinning kick incident, who was indicted on charges including violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (retaliatory threats). On this day, the court conducted a witness examination of the victim, A.

A stated, "I contacted the YouTuber who had been Lee's fellow inmate after seeing him testify on a broadcast," and added, "At first, I did not trust him, but when I heard that he knew my home address, I had no choice but to believe what he said."

She continued, "I thought I had to bear the burden of uncovering the truth in this case, but when I actually heard the threat of revenge, I feared that even my family could be harmed, and I was so terrified that it became difficult to even enter my own home."

It is known that Lee learned A's address by viewing personal information during the civil lawsuit process initiated by A. Through his attorney, Lee argued, "It was my fellow inmate who learned the victim's address by looking at the civil lawsuit documents, not me."

Lee was indicted on charges of making retaliatory remarks, such as expressing resentment that he received a heavy sentence in the first trial because of the victim and saying, "After escaping, I will go to A's house and kill her," to a YouTuber who was housed in the same cell at Busan Detention Center in February 2023 while his retrial was underway.

As the trial neared its conclusion, A read a prepared statement written on a single A4 sheet. She said, "Since the Busan spinning kick incident, I have suffered numerous secondary harms, and even after the case ended, I became a victim of another incident," adding, "Even though my recovery has been slow, what is even more unacceptable is that the truth is becoming more obscured. Please give me another chance to trust the court."

She continued, "The defendant received a heavy sentence solely because of his own actions, not because of me," and added, "I am not afraid of the defendant himself; I am simply afraid of my own death as a human being."

The Busan spinning kick incident occurred at around 5 a.m. on May 22, 2022, when Lee, a man in his 30s, followed A, who was on her way home in Seomyeon, Busanjin-gu, Busan, with the intent to sexually assault her and committed an assault. Lee was sentenced to 12 years in prison for attempted murder in the first trial, but in the second trial, the prosecution amended the indictment to attempted rape and murder, increasing the sentence to 20 years, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.

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