The latest incident happened on Nov. 2 near Seoul’s bustling Dongdaemun District, when a drunk driver struck a 58-year-old Japanese woman and her 38-year-old daughter as they crossed an intersection. The mother died at the scene, and the daughter suffered severe injuries, including a broken kneecap, on what was supposed to be the first evening of their three-day “mother-daughter trip” to South Korea.
“I don’t know how I was driving,” the man in his 30s told police after being arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving causing death and injury. He admitted to drinking three bottles of shochu and was too intoxicated to remember the crash,The Straits Timesreported.
A week earlier, on Oct. 25, a Canadian man died after being hit by a drunk driver in Seoul’s Gangnam District. In both cases, the drivers’ blood-alcohol levels were above the legal limit and high enough for their licenses to be revoked.
South Korea recorded 11,307 drink-driving accidents in 2024, according to the Korean National Police Agency. Experts and local media point to comparatively light punishments as a key reason the problem persists.
While the statutory maximum penalty for dangerous driving resulting in death is life imprisonment, the Supreme Court’s sentencing guidelines typically range from four to eight years. Penalties of 10 years or more are considered rare, and about 95% of drink-driving cases result in suspended sentences.
The issue has fueled fierce debate in the press. A Nov. 6 editorial inHankook Ilbowarned that “as long as an atmosphere of tolerance towards the lenient punishments persists, the number of victims will not decrease.” It added, “We must not be called a ‘developing country’ when it comes to drink driving.”
The Nov. 2 crash has become a national touchpoint. Flowers and messages now line the site of the accident, where locals continue to express grief and frustration. On Nov. 10, an elderly woman from Seoul stopped to leave a warm drink and told reporters, “I hope this culture of leniency toward drink driving will be done away with, and such accidents will never happen again,”Japan Newsreported.
출처: VnExpress English | 원문 보기
