School Zone Tragedy Bereaved Family Appeals to Court for "Heaviest Punishment Ever"

Bereaved Family: "No Apology or Contact Received from Defendant"

"Now, no matter what we do, Seunga cannot come back, but please make sure that no one else suffers the same pain as we have."

In April, the bereaved family of Bae Seunga, who died in a school zone due to a drunk driving vehicle, appealed to the court to impose "the harshest punishment ever" on the perpetrator.

According to a Yonhap News report on the 21st, Bae's older brother (25) appeared as a witness at the continued trial of the perpetrator Bang Mo (66) at the Daejeon District Court Criminal Division 12 (Chief Judge Na Sang-hoon), charged with causing death and injury in a school zone under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes and dangerous driving causing death or injury.

In April, Bang Mo, who caused a drunk driving accident in a school zone, is being transported by a police vehicle to Dunsan Police Station in Daejeon for a pre-trial detention hearing (warrant review).
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Bae expressed the family's suffering, saying that since Seunga's accident, none of the family members have been able to live normal lives. He said, "Whenever I see things related to Seunga, my heart still races, making it hard to continue a normal life," and added tearfully, "However, the defendant has not apologized or contacted us even once and continues to cause secondary harm by submitting only a letter of remorse to the court." He further stated, "There is absolutely no intention to settle," and pleaded again, "Please impose the harshest punishment ever and set a precedent that drunk driving causing death will be severely punished."

When the prosecutor asked if he had anything to say to Seunga, Bae sobbed, "I am sorry that when she was taken to the hospital, I could not do everything possible to save her, and I am sorry she had to endure pain for so long," and said, "If we meet again as older brother and younger sister in the next life, let's live happily together."

The next trial is scheduled for the 20th of next month.

Earlier, Bang was indicted on charges of driving a passenger car in a heavily intoxicated state on April 8 at around 2:21 p.m., crossing the road curb and rushing onto the sidewalk within the school zone near the intersection by Tanbang Middle School in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu, Daejeon, hitting Bae who was walking and causing her death, and injuring three children aged 9 to 10 who were with her.

Investigations revealed that Bang had consumed alcohol at a restaurant in Taepyeong-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, around 12:30 p.m. that day, drinking with eight acquaintances before driving approximately 5.3 km to the accident site. At the time, Bang's blood alcohol concentration was 0.108%, exceeding the license cancellation standard (0.08%), and his driving speed was 42 km/h, surpassing the legal speed limit of 30 km/h.

Meanwhile, during the prosecution's investigation, it was revealed that Bang had a prior record of punishment for drunk driving in 1996, and through his confession, it was also confirmed that he had previously driven under the influence without being caught.