"Why Did Kim Ho-jung Buy a Can of Beer Right After the Accident? Difficult to Apply Drunk Driving Charges"

False Confession, Additional Drinking... Early Investigation Confusion
"Kim Hojung, Disregard for Judicial System" Criticism Spreads

Criticism is mounting over the whereabouts of singer Kim Ho-jung, who is accused of 'hit-and-run under the influence.' This is because Kim's manager gave a false confession after the accident, causing confusion in the investigation. Moreover, there is evidence that Kim drank additional alcohol after the accident, and since the blood alcohol test was conducted 17 hours later, it became impossible to accurately determine the blood alcohol concentration, which is direct evidence of drunk driving.

Hwang Geun-joo, a lawyer at Roel Law Firm, said on YTN Radio on the 24th, "After the accident, false confessions and black box memory destruction incidents followed one after another, involving the agency's CEO and staff," adding, "Considering that such a serious incident occurred and the concert was still carried out as planned, it seems like there is a serious disregard for our country's criminal justice system."

He continued, "Even if Kim Ho-jung drank additional alcohol after the accident, it does not exempt him from legal responsibility for the accident or hit-and-run," explaining, "Even if he is not held criminally responsible for the additional drinking, he will still bear criminal responsibility for the accident itself, and the fact that he drank more alcohol will be taken into considerable account."

"Why Did Kim Ho-jung Buy a Can of Beer Right After the Accident? Difficult to Apply Drunk Driving Charges"

Singer Kim Ho-jung, who is accused of drunk hit-and-run, is appearing at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 24th for a warrant hearing (pre-arrest suspect interrogation). Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Kim is suspected of deliberately drinking more alcohol after causing a collision with a taxi on the opposite side of the road in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around 11:40 p.m. on the 9th. However, it is difficult to apply drunk driving charges to Kim. This is because no alcohol test was conducted at the accident scene, and there is evidence that he purchased canned beer at a convenience store after the accident, making it impossible to confirm the exact blood alcohol level.

There are also criticisms that Kim exploited a loophole in the law due to his actions, which are hard to understand logically. It is suspected that he intentionally drank more alcohol to deceive the police's alcohol test.

In response, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office proposed legislation to the Ministry of Justice on the 20th to establish criminal penalties for 'intentional additional drinking after a drunk driving traffic accident.' The proposed legislation stipulates that if a person suspected of causing a traffic accident due to drunk driving intentionally drinks more alcohol to avoid detection, they will face imprisonment from one to five years or a fine ranging from 5 million to 20 million won. The penalty is the same as for refusing an alcohol test.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office explained, "When a person intentionally drinks more alcohol after an accident, there is a gap in punishment due to lack of evidence regarding the blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving, resulting in acquittals," adding, "This can be practically regarded as refusal to take an alcohol test."

However, even if such a 'Kim Ho-jung Prevention Act' is enacted, it would be difficult to apply it to Kim's case. According to the principle of non-retroactivity of criminal laws, criminal penalties generally do not have retroactive effect.

Meanwhile, the police plan to apply the 'Widmark' formula to estimate Kim's blood alcohol level at the time. The Widmark formula is a technique that calculates the blood alcohol concentration at the time of driving by considering the type and amount of alcohol consumed and body weight after a certain time has passed since drinking.