A person in their 50s who had already been punished six times for drunk driving has been convicted again after causing a crash while intoxicated.
Judge Park Ki-ju of the Changwon District Court sentenced the defendant, identified only by the surname A, to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges including violating the Road Traffic Act, legal sources said on the 6th. The court also ordered probation, 40 hours of community service and 40 hours of mandatory lectures on lawful driving.
The defendant was indicted for driving a van parked at a parking lot in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, in February while intoxicated and causing a crash after driving against traffic.
The defendant found keys left in the vehicle and began driving, and within 10 seconds of setting off was heading the wrong way before striking a median barrier. The driver's blood alcohol level was 0.135%, high enough to warrant license revocation. The defendant had been fined six times for drunk driving before this crash.
The court said the defendant "drove someone else's vehicle without permission and went on to cause a traffic accident, with a very high blood alcohol level," adding that it had taken into account that the defendant "admitted the offense and showed remorse, and reached a settlement with the owner of the damaged vehicle."
Four in 10 Drunk Drivers Offend Again
Drunk driving accidents are declining, but the repeat offense rate is not. According to the Korean National Police Agency, the repeat rate for drunk driving has stayed in the 40% range over the past five years.
Drunk driving accidents numbered 10,351 last year, down 6.2% from a year earlier, and deaths fell 12.3% to 121. The repeat rate, however, held steady. Of the 105,875 people caught last year, 46,556, or 44%, had driven after drinking before.
Critics have long argued that penalties for drunk driving in South Korea are too light to bring down the number of accidents. Of those indicted for drunk driving in 2023, only 1.5 out of every 10 received a prison term that was actually served.
