Man in His 50s Damaging Forced Laborer Statue at Yongsan Station... Prison Sentence Upheld on Appeal

After Vandalizing the Statue, Threatening with a Pickaxe

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] A man in his 50s who damaged the Forced Laborer Statue at Yongsan Station Plaza in Seoul and threatened nearby protesters was sentenced to imprisonment again in the appellate court following the first trial.

The Criminal Appeals Division 1-3 of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judges An Jonghwa, Kim Dokyun, Choi Eunju) announced on the 19th that it dismissed the appeal of Kim (55), who was charged with special intimidation, theft, and property damage, and upheld the original sentence of 10 months imprisonment.

The court pointed out, "The defendant threatened the victims while carrying a dangerous object and damaged an expensive statue," adding, "He committed multiple offenses including damaging the statue and stealing parts of it, and the nature of the crime is serious."

It continued, "Despite being within the recidivism period, the defendant did not show remorse and committed the crime in this case. Considering that he was not forgiven by the victims, the court finds that the sentence imposed by the original trial is not excessively heavy beyond a reasonable range," explaining the reason for dismissal.

Previously, the first trial court also stated, "The defendant threatened the victims while carrying a dangerous object and damaged the statue," but "considering that the crime was committed impulsively after seeing the protests amid difficult social circumstances such as COVID-19," sentenced Kim to 10 months imprisonment.

Kim appealed, arguing that the Forced Laborer Statue was an illegally installed object scheduled for removal and thus could not be considered property subject to property damage charges. He also claimed that the market value of the statue was only 1 million won, and although he took a part of the statue, the pickaxe, he mistook it for a removal target and its value was only 10,000 won.

Kim was indicted for kicking and detaching the pickaxe part attached to the Forced Laborer Statue on September 29 last year after discovering a group holding a rally at Yongsan Station Plaza, saying, "Life is hard, so why do you keep protesting?" and throwing it away.

Additionally, Kim returned to the statue about five minutes later, picked up the pickaxe part, struck the statue, threatened the victims, and was charged with theft.