DJ Yesung sentenced to 8 years in prison for ”fatal drunk driving accident”

DJ Yeson (Ahn Yeson), who caused a fatal accident by drunken driving, was sentenced to eight years in prison by the Supreme Court.

According to the legal community, on the 15th, the 3rd Division of the Supreme Court on the 10th May decided to dismiss the appeal against Ahn, who was charged with violating the Act on Aggravated Punishment of Specified Crimes, etc. (dangerous driving manslaughter) and other charges. This confirmed the sentence of eight years' imprisonment handed down by the second instance court.

The decision to dismiss the appeal means that the grounds claimed by the appellant did not fall under the grounds for appeal as stipulated in the Code of Criminal Procedure and the appeal itself was not considered.

At around 4:40am on the 3rd February this year, Mr Ann was driving under the influence of alcohol and collided with a motorcycle in front of him. The accident resulted in the death of the motorcyclist, a delivery man in his 50s, who was taken to hospital in cardiac arrest.

At the time, Mr Ann was intoxicated with a blood alcohol level of 0.221%. It was investigated that prior to the accident, Mr Ann had fled the scene of another road accident, causing this fatal accident.

The Trial Chamber at first instance told Mr Ann that he ‘left the scene of the accident without any explanation, even though he was required to remain at the scene’ and that he ‘left the scene of the accident without taking the measures required under the Road Traffic Act, such as protecting the victim. He was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment, stating that he “admitted that he had the intention to flee at the time”.

Both Mr Ahn's side and the prosecution appealed against the first instance sentence and submitted a notice of appeal to the court. The prosecution stated that the reasons for the appeal were that the case was serious, as Mr Ahn caused the accident while drunk and fled without taking any measures.

The second court reduced the sentence to eight years, taking into account that Mr Ahn confessed to the crime and agreed with the victim.

Mr Ahn appealed against the second instance decision on the grounds that the sentence was unfair, but the Supreme Court found that there were no legitimate grounds for appeal and confirmed the sentence in its decision to dismiss the appeal.