Driver who went the wrong way at City Hall Station sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial... "No sign of remorse"

In July of last year, the driver of the vehicle that caused a runaway accident near Seoul City Hall Station was sentenced to 7 years and 6 months in prison in the first trial. On the 12th, Judge Lee Chun-geun of the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Court sentenced Mr. Cha (69), who was indicted and detained on charges of manslaughter and injury under the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling, stating, "There are no signs of remorse." The prosecution had previously also requested a sentence of 7 years and 6 months in prison for Mr. Cha. A prison sentence of detention is similar to imprisonment, but the difference is that it does not involve labor.

The court stated, "Nine people died and five were injured due to the defendant's negligence, resulting in irreversible serious consequences," and added, "The bereaved families are petitioning for severe punishment, and considering that the defendant denies the crime and shows no remorse, a severe punishment commensurate with the guilt is necessary." It also noted, "There is no evidence that the defendant has reached an agreement with the victims, apologized to the bereaved families, or made efforts to restore the damages."

Mr. Cha was brought to trial on charges of driving out of the Westin Chosun Hotel underground parking lot near City Hall Station around 9:26 PM on July 1st last year, going in the wrong direction, crashing onto the sidewalk, resulting in the deaths of nine people and injuring five others.

The issue in this case was whether sudden acceleration occurred. The court stated, "Based on the accident data recorder (EDR) and black box footage, there was no defect in Mr. Cha's vehicle's braking system, and there were no suspicious circumstances in the National Forensic Service's evaluation that suggested he repeatedly pressed and released the accelerator pedal instead of the brake pedal while driving, leading to the accident." It was determined that the accident was caused by Mr. Cha's negligence.