"City Hall Station Wrong-Way Crash" Driver's Sentence Reduced on Appeal... 5 Years Imprisonment Without Labor

Violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents Resulting in Death
Court: "Crime Stemming from a Single Act"

The driver involved in the so-called "City Hall Station wrong-way accident," which resulted in 14 casualties last July, received a reduced sentence on appeal.

On the night of the 1st, near Seoul City Hall, a passenger car drove the wrong way through an intersection and struck pedestrians, resulting in nine deaths. On the morning of the 2nd, someone placed a bouquet of chrysanthemums near the accident site. Photo by Heo Younghan younghan@

On August 8, the Criminal Appellate Division 5-1 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges So Byungjin, Kim Yongjung, and Kim Jiseon) overturned the original sentence of seven years and six months in prison for Cha (69), who was indicted for violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents, and instead sentenced him to five years in prison. A sentence of imprisonment without labor means that the individual is incarcerated but not required to perform forced labor, unlike a prison sentence with labor.

Previously, the court of first instance viewed each victim's accident as a separate crime and determined that the offenses were in a real concurrence, sentencing Cha to the statutory maximum of seven years and six months. Real concurrence refers to a situation where a person commits multiple acts that each violate the law; in such cases, the sentence can be increased up to one and a half times the most severe punishment for the individual crimes.

However, the appellate court found that Cha's actions constituted an ideal concurrence of offenses. Ideal concurrence occurs when a single act constitutes multiple crimes; in this case, the sentence is based on the most severe punishment among the applicable offenses. Therefore, the maximum sentence is five years of imprisonment without labor.

The court stated, "The main cause of the accident was the defendant's negligence in stepping on the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal, which means the offense is singular in nature, and the different outcomes for each victim simply resulted from the same act," adding, "It is appropriate to consider the offenses as being in an ideal concurrence relationship."

The court continued, "Due to occupational negligence, nine people died and five were injured, resulting in irreversible and serious consequences. The compensation paid to some of the bereaved families is not sufficient to consider the damages fully restored. Given that the defendant denies the crime, the gravity of the offense is severe, so we are imposing the maximum sentence permitted by law."

On July 1 of last year, at around 9:26 p.m., Cha drove out of the underground parking lot of the Westin Chosun Hotel near City Hall Station in Jung-gu, Seoul, went the wrong way, and then crashed onto the sidewalk, hitting pedestrians and two vehicles. The accident resulted in nine deaths and five injuries.

Cha claimed that the car suddenly accelerated, but prosecutors concluded that the accident was caused by Cha's misapplication of the accelerator pedal and indicted him in August of last year.