[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Korean Bar Association issued a statement on the 10th regarding the arson incident at a lawyer's office in Daegu, appealing, "We ask for improvements in systems and awareness so that lawyers are not subjected to harm, threats, or verbal abuse."
The association emphasized, "Lawyers working right next to the individuals involved in the incident have been exposed to various degrees of verbal abuse and threats," adding, "There was a fear that verbal abuse and threats could escalate to harm. This concern was proven not to be unfounded by this incident."
It continued, "Negative perceptions of lawyers and the atmosphere where, unlike judges and prosecutors, lawyers endure verbal abuse and threats may have contributed to this incident," and stated, "Simply saying 'let's be careful so this doesn't happen again' and 'let's move forward' is insufficient."
The association first requested, "We hope lawyers are protected by systems and cared for sincerely." It added, "We need laws that strictly punish verbal abuse, threats, and harmful acts against lawyers, and a social consensus that aggressive behavior by individuals involved in cases toward lawyers is absolutely unacceptable."
"For innocent vulnerable parties to trust each other and live safely in a society governed by the rule of law, lawyers must always be able to work without worries about harm, threats, or verbal abuse," it said, also adding, "Please understand that this request is not an arrogant sense of privilege."
The day before, an arson incident occurred at a lawyer's office in Beomeo-dong, Suseong-gu, Daegu, resulting in 7 deaths and 46 injuries. Among them, two men?a lawyer and an office manager?were confirmed to have wounds consistent with stab injuries (injuries caused by sharp objects such as blades). The police plan to conduct a detailed forensic examination on the day to identify all weapons involved in causing the stab wounds.
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