Demanded sex and large sum after witnessing drunk driving... 30s sentenced to prison

"Threatened to report and demanded 10 million won, attempted
Sentenced to 1 year in prison with 2 years probation"

A man in his 30s who witnessed a woman driving under the influence in an apartment parking lot and then demanded sexual relations or a large sum of money by saying "I will report you" was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

On the 20th, the Chuncheon District Court Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judge Park Seong-min) sentenced A (33), who was indicted on charges of attempted extortion, to one year in prison with a two-year suspension and ordered 160 hours of community service, Yonhap News reported on the same day.

On March 8th at around 11:30 p.m., A witnessed a woman, B, parking a car while holding the steering wheel after a designated driver had exited the vehicle at the entrance of an underground parking lot of an apartment in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. About 10 minutes later, A obtained B’s phone number from B’s car and demanded to meet her. A threatened B by saying, "If you do not have sexual relations with me, I will report you for drunk driving," and if she refused, he demanded 10 million won instead, which eventually led to his trial.

Chuncheon District Court Exterior

In court, A claimed that he had no intent to extort, but the court did not accept this. The court judged A guilty based on B’s consistent testimony about the victimization and the fact that A admitted to asking B for 10 million won. Furthermore, considering that A did not immediately report the drunk driving after witnessing it, but instead checked B’s phone number from her car and then sought to meet her, the court concluded that it was unlikely that A approached her with the purpose of reporting drunk driving. The fact that A contacted B immediately after parting ways and sent multiple messages the next day to meet her was also a basis for the guilty verdict.

The court stated, "It can be sufficiently recognized that the defendant attempted extortion by threatening to report the victim for drunk driving but failed," and explained the sentencing reasons as follows: "Considering the circumstances of the crime, the very poor nature of the offense, the defendant’s consistent incomprehensible excuses and complete lack of remorse, and the absence of an agreement with the victim."