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Drunk driver's 12-year sentence for killing street cleaner upheld

Published: 12 Oct. 2025, 13:00

The scene of a car accident where a street cleaner was hit and killed by a drunk driver in Cheonan, South Chungcheong, on Aug. 7, 2024 [CHEONAN DONGNAM FIRE STATION]

A 26-year-old man was handed a final 12-year prison term for killing a street cleaner while fleeing police in an intoxicated driving incident.

“It cannot be said that the appellate court's decision to uphold the initial 12-year sentence is unfair,” read the ruling, according to the legal circle on Sunday.

The Supreme affirmed the 12-year sentence imposed on Kim, who was prosecuted on multiple charges including aggravated offenses under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — hit-and-run causing death, hit-and-run causing injury, dangerous driving causing death and dangerous driving causing injury — and violations of the Road Traffic Act for failure to perform postaccident duties.

Kim is accused of hitting and killing a 36-year-old sanitation worker with his passenger car in the early hours of Aug. 7, 2024, on a road in Cheonan, South Chungcheong.

According to the indictment, Kim had been sleeping in his car while intoxicated on a nearby road. When police officers arrived after a 112 call and knocked on the car door, Kim fled in the vehicle and struck the worker, who was working at the rear of a garbage collection truck with its amber lights flashing. The car was traveling at 72 kilometers per hour (45 miles per hour) at the time of the collision.

The crash killed the worker and left two other workers, aged 60 and 22, with injuries requiring about two weeks’ recovery. The impact pushed the large garbage truck about 5 meters and Kim was arrested after he fled on foot but was chased down by officers.

The district court handed down a 12-year sentence on Dec. 1, 2024, noting that Kim — though heavily intoxicated and barely able to walk — drove at high speed, failed to render aid to the victims and fled the scene immediately after getting out of the car.

The court described the deceased sanitation worker as “a sincere 30-something who, despite doing difficult nighttime garbage collection work for a better future for themselves and their family, lost their life in an instant on their father’s birthday,” and said heavy punishment was necessary to deter such crimes.

Kim appealed, arguing the sentence was too harsh. At the June 2025 appellate hearing, the court kept the 12-year term, saying that although Kim had deposited 70 million won ($49,000) for the victim’s family during the appeal, the family refused to accept the deposit, so it could not be treated as a mitigating factor and no new circumstances justified changing the sentence.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM JUN-YOUNG [[email protected]]