"Drinking Damgeumju in Car After Minor Accident"…Official Who Denied Drunk Driving Finally Caught

Standing in court for drunk driving after over 2 years
'1 year imprisonment, 2 years probation'...Appealing first trial verdict

A public official in his 50s who denied drunk driving, claiming he only drank ginseng-infused liquor in his car after a minor collision, was sentenced to a suspended prison term 2 years and 5 months after the incident.

"The claim that he drank ginseng liquor that had not even been brewed for a day right after the accident is absurd"

On the 7th, Yonhap News reported, "The police initially dismissed the case due to insufficient evidence, almost letting it slip away, but the prosecution requested a reinvestigation, bringing the public official to court. The first trial found him guilty of drunk driving, charging him with an offense that could lead to disciplinary action as a public official of Wonju City Hall."

According to the Yonhap report, Judge Park Hyunjin, presiding over the first trial at the Chuncheon District Court Wonju Branch Criminal Division 2, recently sentenced A, a public official in his 50s affiliated with Wonju City Hall, to one year in prison with a two-year suspension, based on properly collected and investigated evidence on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving). The sentence also included 80 hours of community service and 40 hours of attending a safe driving lecture.

The court focused on the initial statements given to the police and found the excuse that he drank ginseng liquor that had not even been brewed for a full day immediately after the minor collision inside the car to be unusual, rejecting A’s denial of drunk driving. Furthermore, considering that he repeatedly moved forward and backward for 4 minutes trying to parallel park despite having enough space, the court concluded he was already intoxicated. Even when applying the Widmark formula to estimate blood alcohol concentration in the most favorable way for A, the prosecution proved that he drove with a blood alcohol concentration above the punishable limit of 0.03%.

Judge Park explained the sentencing by saying, "He denies the offense, but since he was intoxicated enough to fall asleep in the car after the collision, there was a risk due to drunk driving. Also, considering his two prior convictions for similar offenses with fines," he imposed the sentence. A’s side has filed an appeal with the court following the verdict.

"He pleaded, 'I drank two bottles of soju at the funeral hall, please show leniency as a public official,' then reversed to 'I drank in the car after the accident'"

Earlier, A was accused of drunk driving with a blood alcohol concentration above 0.03% on December 9, 2021, around 2 a.m., driving 1.2 km from a funeral hall at a hospital in Wonju to his home parking lot. CCTV footage from the scene shows that at around 1:58 a.m. on the day of the incident, A attempted parallel parking and caused a minor collision with a parked car, then fell asleep and remained there for nearly six hours until police arrived at 7:47 a.m.

The responding police officers found A asleep with a cigarette between his fingers and the car’s engine not fully turned off, causing the battery to drain. Based on this, the police conducted a breathalyzer test on A at 8:13 a.m., which showed a blood alcohol concentration of 0.122%. At that time, A pleaded with the officers, saying, "I drank two bottles of soju at the funeral hall the day before," and "Please show leniency as I am a public official."

However, 11 days after the incident, during the suspect interrogation, A retracted this statement. He claimed, "I only drank ginseng-infused liquor made at my father’s house the day before inside the car after the minor collision; I did not drink and drive." The police, unable to secure direct evidence that A drank at the funeral hall, dismissed the case in June 2022 due to insufficient evidence after about seven months. However, the prosecution reviewed the dismissal and requested a reinvestigation citing several suspicious points. Subsequently, 1 year and 5 months after the incident, in May last year, the case was sent with a prosecution opinion, allowing A to be brought to court in July of the same year.