"Text Messages and Underwear Deliveries at Dawn from 'Nonexistent Number'... Stalking Offender Claims 'Cultural Differences'"

"Cultural Differences Caused Misunderstanding... Claimed It Was a Secret Celebration"
Court Points Out "Caused Anxiety and Fear to the Other Party"

A man who concealed his identity, sent a birthday greeting text to a woman in the early morning, and even had underwear delivered to her home as a gift was found guilty of stalking again in the second trial, following the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeal Division 2-3 (Presiding Judges Cho Eun-ah, Kwak Jeong-han, Kang Hee-seok) sentenced Mr. A (30), who was charged with violating the Stalking Crime Punishment Act, to a fine of 3 million won, the same as in the first trial, according to Yonhap News on the 20th. The court also ordered Mr. A to complete a 40-hour stalking treatment program.

Seoul Central District Court, Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

In February 2022, around 4 a.m., Mr. A sent a text message saying "Happy birthday" to Ms. B, a woman who operated the sports facility he attended. Five days later, in the early morning, Mr. A sent another text message to Ms. B. At 3 a.m., he sent a message saying, "Did you have a good birthday that day? Please check the hallway this afternoon~ Dress nicely," and had a set of women's underwear delivered to Ms. B's residence. During this process, Mr. A did not disclose his personal information to Ms. B. Ms. B, who received the underwear set, returned it and tried to contact Mr. A using the number written on the package, but it showed as a 'nonexistent number.' Eventually, Mr. A was brought to trial on stalking charges.

During the trial, Mr. A claimed, "I wanted to secretly congratulate Ms. B on her birthday," and argued his innocence, saying, "It was just a misunderstanding due to cultural differences." However, the first trial court's judgment was different. The court pointed out, "The series of actions by Mr. A objectively caused sufficient anxiety and fear to the other party." The court further stated, "Ms. B repeatedly received text messages from a stranger in the deep early morning when she should have been sleeping soundly, and the messages contained her private information such as age and birthday," adding, "The act of giving underwear as a gift without revealing oneself is clearly unpleasant." After the first trial verdict, Mr. A appealed, but the second trial court dismissed it, stating there was no error in the original judgment.