Among 10,811 People, Only 78 Received Election Postponement
Among 2002 Jurisdiction Court Rulings, Only Deputy Prime Minister Park Had Election Postponement Despite Blood Alcohol Concentration Over 0.2%
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 13th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Naju-seok] It has been pointed out that Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Park Soon-ae’s receipt of a suspended sentence for drunk driving is a miraculously exceptional case even when compared to other similar cases. Less than 1% of people who committed drunk driving received a suspended sentence, and moreover, Park is the only person who received a suspended sentence from the court that year despite having a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.2%.
According to the “2002 Drunk Driving Judgment Status” submitted and analyzed by Kim Hoe-jae, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Supreme Court on the 21st, a total of 10,811 people received first-instance judgments for drunk driving in 2002, among whom only 78 people, including Deputy Prime Minister Park, received suspended sentences, accounting for just 0.78% of the total.
A suspended sentence is a system that postpones the sentencing considering mitigating circumstances, and if no special incidents occur during the suspension period, the sentence is dismissed. Thanks to receiving a suspended sentence, Deputy Prime Minister Park was not actually sentenced despite the drunk driving offense.
Furthermore, it has been pointed out that it is unusual to receive a suspended sentence despite having a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.2% among the 0.78% exceptional cases. Kim’s office conducted a full analysis of the nine suspended sentence judgments for drunk driving in 2002 at the Seoul Central District Court, where Deputy Prime Minister Park’s sentence was handed down, and found that Park was the only drunk driver with a blood alcohol concentration exceeding 0.2% who received a suspended sentence. In fact, Deputy Prime Minister Park’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.251% at the time of the drunk driving detection, indicating a state of severe intoxication.
The sentencing document for Deputy Prime Minister Park did not even specify the reason for the suspended sentence.
Kim, a former prosecutor, said, “The court gave a suspended sentence despite Deputy Prime Minister Park’s blood alcohol concentration far exceeding the license cancellation level, and the prosecution confirmed it without appeal, making this a very unusual case,” adding, “Compared to other cases, this is a miracle in the top 0.01%, not just the top 0.78%.” He continued, “Despite the strong suspicion beyond simple intoxicated drunk driving, President Yoon Suk-yeol appointed Deputy Prime Minister Park Soon-ae without even minimal verification or a confirmation hearing,” and emphasized, “President Yoon, as the appointing authority, must take responsibility and resolve this by himself for appointing someone unfit by the public’s standards.”
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