South Korea's top court on Thursday upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a 69-year-old man to five years in prison without physical labor for causing a car accident last year that left nine people dead and five injured.
The defendant drove his car onto the pavement near City Hall Station in Jung-gu, central Seoul, at 9:26 p.m. on July 1, 2024, striking multiple pedestrians before colliding with two vehicles. His car's speed had exceeded 100 kilometers per hour at one point.
He claimed the crash was caused by sudden unintended acceleration due to a vehicle defect, but police concluded, based on analyses by the National Forensic Service, that the accident resulted from human error.
Courts rejected his unintended-acceleration claim. His original sentence of seven years and six months in prison without physical labor was reduced on appeal to five years, which the Supreme Court affirmed Thursday.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
