Five-year term for drunk driver who killed Japanese tourist upheld

A court of appeals on Thursday upheld a five-year prison sentence for a man who was indicted for drunk driving in downtown Seoul and hitting a Japanese woman and her daughter last year, killing the mother.

The appellate division of the Seoul Central District Court issued the ruling after dismissing the appeal filed by the man identified only by his surname Seo, saying there were no grounds to reduce his sentence or grant him leniency.

Seo is accused of drunk driving after consuming three bottles of soju on the night of Nov. 2 last year and hitting the two Japanese women as they crossed a pedestrian crosswalk near Dongdaemun Station in Jongno District, central Seoul. The mother was taken to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest and later died, while her daughter sustained minor injuries.

Seo's blood alcohol concentration was 0.212 percent, well above the 0.08 percent legal threshold for license revocation. The accident reportedly occurred on the first day of the two women's three-day trip to Korea.

In early May, the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Seo to five years in prison and ordered the confiscation of the Tesla he was driving.

Siding with the district court's ruling, the appellate court said the defendant appeared to have been driving while unable to control himself, resulting in an outcome tantamount to murder.

Yonhap