Gangster Questioned for Reporting "Saw Your Name in Whistleblower's Notebook" ... Sentenced to Prison

An organized crime member who identified the whistleblower who reported the assault on a former member and forced them to confess the report was sentenced to prison. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Hana Na] A gangster who identified and pressured a whistleblower who reported an assault incident involving a former member of the organization has been sentenced to prison.

On the 1st, the Jeonju District Court announced that it sentenced A (23) to two years in prison on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (coercion to meet) and other offenses.

A was charged with forcibly making B (21) confess to reporting the assault and confinement incident involving a former member of the organization by taking B into a car near a funeral hall in Gunsan, Jeonbuk, around 12:45 a.m. on February 11 last year.

It was revealed that A committed the crime after hearing from another organization member, who was investigated by the police for the assault incident, that the whistleblower's name (B's name) was seen in a notebook spread out on a police officer's desk.

B is known to have been active in the same violent organization as A.

Earlier, some members of the violent organization to which A belonged were arrested in flagrante delicto for the assault incident, while others fled, causing the organization's structure to collapse.

B is reported to have eventually admitted to the reporting under A's pressure, who demanded, "Tell the truth."

The court stated, "This case involved exerting power over B, who informed the investigative agency about the assault on a former member who left the criminal organization, and the defendant's criminal nature is very bad," adding, "Considering that the defendant generally acknowledges his wrongdoing, the sentence was determined."