Busan Haeundae Police Station Receives Complaint, Reviewing Threats and Child Abuse
McLaren Owner Says "We Apologized to Each Other at the Precinct, So Why Such Posts?"
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] “Your dad is a beggar, so you ride a crappy car.” “We apologized to each other at the police station that day and ended it, so why is this post being made...?”
As a netizen’s story about being verbally abused and subjected to retaliatory driving by a luxury foreign supercar driver in Haeundae-gu, Busan, sparks public outrage, the Busan police have launched an investigation. The supercar driver claims they have reconciled.
On the 21st, a post titled “Busan Haeundae Gapjil McLaren” was uploaded to an online community. The author, who identified himself as a father of multiple children living in Busan, wrote that on the evening of the 13th around 7 p.m., he and his family of five, including three children, experienced serious retaliatory driving while returning home, which escalated the incident.
The author explained the situation: “Around 7 p.m. on March 13, while I was stopped at a traffic light near a three-way intersection with my wife and three children in the car, a purple McLaren suddenly roared at high speed from a right-side alley and cut in front of my vehicle on the right side, preventing me from moving forward even when the light turned green.”
He continued, “The McLaren’s window rolled down, and a man in his early 30s repeatedly hurled unspeakable insults at me, saying things like ‘Where does a crappy car bastard think he’s cutting in?’”
He said, “I was angry, but since five family members, including 9-year-old and 7-year-old twins, were in the cramped car, I opened the window several times and told him to just go, fearing something bad might happen.”
The other vehicle reportedly continued to follow and shouted at the children, “Kids, do you know your father is a beggar? That’s why he drives this crappy car! You’ll drive this crappy car your whole life!” while cursing.
Later, the author recalled, “My wife and children were extremely anxious and shocked, started crying, and the inside of the car was complete chaos.”
The author tried to avoid the McLaren, which had briefly disappeared, and headed home, but the car started following again with roaring noise, so he went to the Jungdong Police Substation near his home to report the situation.
However, the McLaren driver has a different claim.
The McLaren driver asserted, “The Mini maliciously cut in front of me and started cursing, saying ‘Where do you think you’re cutting in?’ which led to mutual insults.” He also rebutted, “We apologized to each other at the police station for the exchanged insults, so I don’t know why this post was made now.”
The owner of the Mini filed a complaint against the McLaren driver on the 19th at the Haeundae Police Station in Busan, accusing him of threats. The Haeundae Police Station’s criminal division plans to conduct an investigation.
According to the legal community, retaliatory driving has been prosecuted under special injury or special threats involving weapons instead of the Road Traffic Act since 2015. If retaliatory driving is recognized, the driver’s license is canceled, and the offender faces up to 7 years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won.
Additionally, verbally abusing children and causing fear in front of them constitutes child abuse under the Child Welfare Act. The statutory penalty for physically or emotionally abusing a child is up to 5 years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won.
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