Only 3.2% Receive Prison Sentences for Assaulting Police While Intoxicated... Most Get Fines or Probation [Era of Police Hardship]

Analysis of Court Rulings on Obstruction of Official Duties by Intoxicated Individuals
Actual Prison Sentences Only for Repeat Offenders or Additional Crimes

"Why are you treating me like crap?"

In January of this year, in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, an intoxicated individual hurled insults at police officers who had responded to a report that he was "trying to destroy a store." When the police tried to prevent him from running into the street and attempted to move him toward the sidewalk, he punched an officer in the chest. He was eventually charged with obstruction of official duties and sentenced to one year in prison, suspended for three years. Just three months after the end of his probation period, he committed the same offense again.

On July 28, an analysis of 61 court rulings from district courts nationwide this year, searched using the keyword "intoxicated" in obstruction of official duties cases through the Supreme Court's verdict viewing service, showed that only two cases (3.2%) resulted in actual prison sentences, such as six months or one year and two months. The remaining 59 cases resulted only in fines or suspended sentences.

Among the fines (30 cases, 49.1%), 5 million won was the most common amount, appearing in 13 cases. This was followed by 3 million won (7 cases), 6 million won (6 cases), 4 million won (3 cases), and 10 million won (1 case). For suspended sentences (29 cases, 47.5%), 18 cases received two years, 9 cases received one year, and 2 cases received three years of probation.

Article 136 of the Criminal Act stipulates that obstruction of official duties is punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won. However, actual prison sentences were mainly limited to cases where the offender had accumulated similar prior convictions or where the violence was particularly severe.

In November last year, a man who entered a study cafe in Giheung-gu, Yongin City while intoxicated refused the police's request to go home and threw his cell phone at a patrol car window, receiving a six-month prison sentence. This man had ten prior convictions for crimes involving interference with others' work while intoxicated. In April last year, at a hotel in Seogwipo, Jeju Island, another man kicked a police officer in the stomach and bit his wrist during a disturbance, resulting in a prison sentence of one year and two months.

If the violence was deemed minor or if the offender had no prior convictions, the court was lenient, imposing either a fine or a suspended sentence. Fines were typically given in cases involving shoving with the palm or minor physical contact, while suspended sentences were imposed in cases involving punching or repeated assaults.

In April last year, an intoxicated individual who refused a police request to go home and punched an officer in the back of the head once at a community center in an apartment complex in Mapo-gu, Seoul, was fined 6 million won. In December of the same year, in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, an intoxicated person who hurled insults at the police and kicked an officer in the groin received a six-month prison sentence, suspended for one year.

Lim Juntae, a professor of police administration at Dongguk University, stated, "Punishments for obstruction of official duties by intoxicated individuals are so lenient that it's difficult to respond properly," and added, "There are cases where suspects file counter-charges against police officers if they get scratched or bruised during the process of being subdued after causing a disturbance. To enable proper response to intoxicated individuals, penalties for assaulting police officers should be strengthened, distinguishing them from ordinary assault cases."