A man in his 50s who killed his father by assaulting him while intoxicated on the day of his mother's funeral was sentenced to 27 years in prison.
According to the legal community on the 30th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) recently upheld the 27-year prison sentence for Kim (55), who was indicted on charges of killing a direct ascendant and violating the Child Welfare Act (child abuse).
The court stated the reason for dismissing the appeal, saying, "Considering the defendant's age, character, environment, relationship with the victim, motive, means and results of the crime, and circumstances after the crime, as well as various other factors related to sentencing conditions shown in the records, even taking into account the circumstances claimed in the grounds for appeal, it cannot be said that the original sentence of 27 years imprisonment is grossly unfair."
Kim was tried on charges of assaulting and killing his 89-year-old father in June 2022 and repeatedly abusing his 12-year-old stepson.
Kim married a Filipino woman with Philippine nationality in 2015 and lived there, but returned to Korea in November 2011. Since then, he lived without a steady job and became a basic livelihood security recipient, receiving support such as livelihood benefits, but faced financial difficulties raising his wife and four children.
In 2012, Kim's father ignored Kim's advice and sold his real estate property located in Daegu. After the surrounding market price of the property rose, Kim began to resent his father. Also, Kim often committed violence against his wife, son, and sister when he drank alcohol.
The day of the incident, June 24, 2022, was Kim's mother's funeral day. Having already drunk alcohol during the funeral, Kim drank a bottle of Makgeolli at his father's house in Gijang-gun, Busan, after the cremation, and bought more alcohol at a convenience store to drink.
While intoxicated, Kim became angry and slapped his father twice, resenting the fact that the condolence money for his mother's funeral was not much and that his father had previously ignored his opinion and sold the real estate in Daegu.
After midnight, Kim's father fled outside the house without properly wearing shoes to escape Kim, but Kim had his son bring his father back inside, then briefly went outside and returned to continue assaulting his father while drinking.
Kim assaulted his father’s head, face, and entire body for about two hours using his hands, feet, and his father's wooden cane. When his father tried to escape, Kim chased and assaulted him; when his father hid behind Kim's wife, Kim dragged him out, laid him on the bed or sleeping area, and assaulted him again.
After indiscriminately assaulting his father, Kim took no action and left his father's house around 3:21 a.m., telling his wife and eldest son to follow him, leaving his severely injured father alone.
Ultimately, Kim's father died from multiple rib fractures, hemothorax, subarachnoid hemorrhage, liver laceration, fractures of arm and hand bones, among other injuries.
Kim was also charged with repeatedly assaulting and abusing his 12-year-old stepson by hitting his head with his hands or a sponge baseball bat, and hitting his head and ears with the brim of a hat, causing ear injuries.
The first trial court found Kim guilty of all charges and sentenced him to 30 years in prison. It also ordered him to complete 40 hours of child abuse treatment programs, restricted him from working in child-related institutions for three years, and mandated electronic monitoring for 10 years.
During the trial, Kim's side admitted to assaulting his father but claimed there was no intent to kill. However, the court judged that the degree of violence Kim inflicted and the circumstances after the crime sufficiently proved his intent to kill.
Kim's wife testified in court that when she saw Kim assaulting his father, she thought, "If he hits a person like that, they could die."
Kim's defense also argued that he was intoxicated and mentally impaired at the time, but the court rejected this, stating, "Even if the defendant was considerably intoxicated, it is not recognized that he was unable or had diminished capacity to discern or make decisions."
Regarding the assault on his stepson, Kim's defense claimed, "It was only some physical force used during discipline," but the court pointed out, "The defendant only used physical force on the victim, and there is no evidence that he considered other methods for disciplining as a guardian."
However, the court took into account favorable factors in sentencing, such as the fact that Kim did not appear to have planned to kill his father, had no prior criminal record punishable by imprisonment beyond probation, and his most recent criminal record was about 20 years ago.
The appellate court dismissed the prosecution's appeal claiming the sentence was too light but accepted Kim's appeal arguing the sentence was too heavy, reducing his sentence to 27 years in prison.
Considerations included Kim's sister's petition for leniency at the second trial, petitions for leniency from Kim's wife and stepson, and Kim's acceptance of all charges and remorse shown in the second trial after denying intent in the first trial.
Kim appealed again citing unfair sentencing, but it was not accepted.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
