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Man who caused disturbance, demanded parachute on flight gets year in prison

Published: 21 Nov. 2025, 14:22

[JOONGANG ILBO]

A person who caused a disturbance on board a passenger aircraft during a flight, demanding a parachute, was sentenced to prison.

The Jeju District Court sentenced the defendant to one year and two months in prison and a fine of 100,000 won ($68) for violations of the Aviation Security Act and other charges, according to legal sources on Friday.

The defendant is accused of verbally abusing and assaulting a flight attendant aboard a passenger plane departing from Gimpo International Airport and bound for Jeju on June 27 at around 6:27 p.m.

While causing a disturbance for nearly 50 minutes, the defendant also demanded “Give me a parachute” and ran toward an emergency exit, but was restrained by crew.

The defendant was ultimately arrested by police waiting at Jeju International Airport immediately after the aircraft landed.

Investigations revealed that on June 18, the defendant also trailed a man at Gimpo International Airport for six minutes, causing distress, and assaulted four police officers who were trying to check his identity and whether they were carrying a weapon.

“The risk posed to aircraft operation was substantial and the nature of the assault was serious,” said the court in its ruling. “However, considering the defendant’s confession and remorse, we have determined 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 JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]