'Japanese Tourist Mother and Daughter Killed'... Another Drunk Driver Caught on the Same Street

Police Detect 11 Cases of Drunk Driving in Gangnam and Surrounding Areas

Recently, after a Japanese tourist was killed by a drunk driver in downtown Seoul, the police intensified their crackdown on drunk driving and detected a total of 11 cases in just one day.

Seoul Hyehwa Police Station plans to transfer Mr. Seo, who is accused of drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act and causing injury or death by dangerous driving under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office in custody on the 11th. Yonhap News

According to the police on the 8th, on the night of Friday the 7th, 11 cases of drunk driving were detected at checkpoints in four locations: Gangnam Station, Gyodae Station, Yangjae Station, and Heunginjimun Intersection in Seoul. Nine drivers had their licenses suspended, while two had their licenses revoked. Some individuals were let off with a warning after being found with a blood alcohol concentration below the legal limit for drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act, which is 0.03%.

In particular, on this day, a man in his 40s was caught for drunk driving near Heunginjimun Intersection in Jongno-gu. The location where he was apprehended was only about 150 meters away from the site where, on the 2nd, a Japanese tourist and her daughter were struck by a drunk driver while crossing the street.

It was reported that he had driven to the location after drinking about half a bottle of soju at a Chinese restaurant near Euljiro. At the time of the checkpoint, his blood alcohol concentration was 0.059%, a level that warrants license suspension. The police revoked his license due to a previous drunk driving offense about 10 years ago, and he is expected to be booked and investigated for drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act.

At around 10:10 p.m. at Seocho Station Intersection in Seocho-gu, another man in his 40s was caught during the crackdown. His blood alcohol concentration was 0.073%, also a level that warrants license suspension.

On the 7th, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency mobilized 116 traffic police officers and mobile patrol unit members, as well as 35 patrol cars and motorcycles, to conduct an intensive crackdown on drunk driving for about two hours from 9 p.m. in areas with frequent drunk driving accidents, including Gangnam Station, Gyodae Station, Yangjae Station, and near Heunginjimun. Choi Yunseok, head of the Gangnam Police Station's Traffic Division, told Yonhap News, "Despite drunk driving being a serious crime, it has not been eradicated, so we conducted a large-scale crackdown," adding, "We urge everyone not to drive after drinking." The police plan to continue conducting random checkpoints at accident-prone locations until the end of the year.

Meanwhile, Mr. Seo, who is accused of driving his car for about 1 kilometer after drinking and then crashing onto the sidewalk at Heunginjimun Intersection near Dongdaemun Station in Jongno-gu around 10 p.m. on the 2nd, striking a Japanese mother and daughter, is scheduled to be transferred in custody to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 11th. At the time of the incident, his blood alcohol concentration reportedly exceeded the license revocation standard of 0.08%.

As a result of the accident, the mother, a Japanese woman in her 50s, was transported to the hospital in cardiac arrest but ultimately died, while her daughter in her 30s suffered a fractured knee and a laceration to her forehead. It is known that the mother and daughter had finished shopping at Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP) and were on their way to Naksan Fortress Trail in Jongno-gu when the tragedy occurred.