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Man who forced intellectually disabled neighbor to drag plow like an ox given suspended sentence

Published: 18 Dec. 2025, 19:23

[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

A man who forced a neighbor with a severe intellectual disability to drag a plow like an ox was sentenced to a suspended prison term.

The Cheongju District Court on Thursday sentenced the defendant to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, for violating the Act on Welfare of Persons with Disabilities. The court also ordered 80 hours of community service and barred him from working at disability-related institutions for three years.

The defendant was indicted for forcing his neighbor — officially classified as having a level-three intellectual disability — to work on his farmland in Cheongju on two occasions in April and May 2023.

He threatened the victim, who lives alone, with verbal abuse and intimidation. According to the court, he made the victim drag a plow strapped to his body, as one would with an ox.

He also used a tax-exempt fuel card issued under the victim’s name to purchase 1.2 million won (approximately $813) worth of fuel, which he kept for himself.

While the defendant was also reported to have exploited the victim for farm labor over a span of decades dating back to 1995, those incidents were not included in the indictment due to the lack of specific dates or actions.

“The victim is believed to have endured prolonged psychological and physical suffering as a result of the defendant’s actions, and it is likely that this will impact his future well-being,” the court said. “However, we considered the fact that the two reached a settlement and that the forced labor covered in the indictment occurred only twice.”

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]]