Man in his 50s hits pedestrian while drunk driving and flees
Victim transferred to hospital after 1 hour but dies
'License cancellation' level... "I drank more because I was scared"
A man who caused the death of a woman in her 60s while driving under the influence has sparked controversy by claiming he "drank one more bottle of soju" after being caught. Suspicions are rising that this is a deliberate attempt to evade the law using the so-called 'Kim Ho-jung method,' and the bereaved family is strongly protesting.
On the 14th, the Miryang Police in Gyeongnam applied for an arrest warrant against a man in his 50s, identified as Mr. A, the driver of a sports utility vehicle (SUV), on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. On the 13th at around 8:17 p.m., Mr. A was driving on a one-lane road in Bonghwang-ri, Chodong-myeon, Miryang City, when he hit a woman in her 60s, Ms. B, who was crossing the road not at a crosswalk, and fled the scene without providing aid. The impact of the accident caused damage to the vehicle, with debris scattered on the ground, and there were reportedly no skid marks indicating braking.
Ms. B was left on the road for about an hour before being found by her son and taken to the hospital, but she ultimately passed away. Approximately three hours after the accident, at around 11:10 p.m., the police found Mr. A’s vehicle about 500 meters from the accident site, with the front headlight on the driver's side and the side of the bumper dented, and promptly arrested him. At the time of arrest, Mr. A’s blood alcohol concentration was at the license cancellation level (0.08% or higher).
However, JTBC reported that "Mr. A admitted to drunk driving to the police but claimed, 'I was scared and afraid right after the accident, so I drank one more bottle of soju at home.'" This appears to be an assertion that his blood alcohol concentration was measured high due to additional drinking. The bereaved family strongly opposes this, saying, "It is an act that kills the bereaved family twice by exploiting loopholes in the law."
This is known as the so-called 'Kim Ho-jung method,' where additional drinking after an accident makes it difficult to apply the Widmark formula (used to back-calculate blood alcohol concentration). In May, Kim Ho-jung drove under the influence, crossed the center line, hit a taxi, and fled, then bought and drank soju at a convenience store before appearing at the police station. Although he admitted to drunk driving, the blood alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was unclear, so drunk driving charges were not applied.
Currently, in the National Assembly, Democratic Party members Shin Young-dae and Min Hyung-bae have each proposed partial amendments to the Road Traffic Act that include penalties for intentional additional drinking after a drunk driving traffic accident. The proposed law stipulates that those who drink additional alcohol to make blood alcohol measurement difficult shall be punished with imprisonment of 2 to 5 years or a fine of 10 million to 20 million won.
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