[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] A woman in her 60s became a convicted criminal after excavating the grave of a wrong person instead of her own father's grave that she intended to relocate.
On the 8th, according to Judge Park Jinyoung of the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 2, A (63), who was indicted for violating the Act on Excavation of Graves and Funeral Services, was sentenced to 4 months in prison with a 1-year probation.
In May of last year, A arbitrarily excavated one grave of her maternal grandmother, which had been managed by the victim B, and immediately cremated the exhumed remains. The Act on Funeral Services stipulates that those who intend to cremate must report to the authority in charge of the cremation facility and must not cremate at any facility or place other than the cremation facility, but she ignored this and proceeded anyway.
Judge Park pointed out, "Although she knew there was a possibility of mistakenly excavating another deceased person's grave because she did not know the exact location of her father's grave to be relocated, she tolerated this and excavated the grave managed by B, then used a torch to cremate, crushed the remains into powder, and buried them, thereby disturbing the peace of the grave and damaging the religious sentiments toward the deceased."
He also explained, "The victim is petitioning for severe punishment against the defendant. However, considering that the crime seems to have been committed due to a hasty judgment and there appears to be no malice, these factors were taken into account."
A similar scene appears in the movie Myeongdang. In the film, the genius geomancer Park Jaesang informs King Heonjong that the grave of his late father is not a prime burial site, but rather the ancestral grave of the powerful Kim Jwageun's family is the prime site. Accordingly, Heonjong opens both his father's grave and Kim's ancestral grave. Such unauthorized excavation of graves constitutes the crime of grave excavation.
The crime of grave excavation is established when a grave is excavated, and even if it is unclear who is buried in the grave, if it is currently an object of ancestral rites or reverence, it qualifies as grave excavation. Furthermore, if a person without any authority excavates the grave recklessly, or even if authorized, excavates without following customary procedures contrary to religious customs, the crime is established.
In other words, King Heonjong's secret nighttime excavation of Kim Jwageun's ancestors' graves without obtaining consent from Kim, the grave manager, constitutes the crime of grave excavation.
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