Korea Times Christmas
(Wow: if you killed someone while driving drunk, paying a fine could get you off.)
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Drivers who cause another person's death through drunk driving will receive a mandatory prison sentence without the previous option of just paying a fine, the Ministry of Justice said Thursday.
In a joint announcement with the National Police Agency, the ministry said people operating any vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or drugs will face between one to ten years in prison if they cause the death of another person. Previously, if the driver was insured and the victim's family agreed to settle the matter out of court, the offender had his or her license canceled, but was rarely arrested.
Drunk drivers who cause a death will now face up to ten years in prison and a five to 30 million won fine; instead of the previous seven years and 20 million won.
The new measures have been added to the revision of the Special Punishment Concerning Specific Crimes Law passed by the National Assembly last month, and will go into effect from Friday.
The revision was an attempt to reduce deaths caused by drunken driving, which have increased from 875 in 2004 to 910 in 2005 and 920 in 2006.
Along with the measures against drunken driving, the ministry has eased the requirements to qualify as a taxi driver. According to the revised Road and Traffic Law coming into effect in six months, those with a grade-two drivers' license ― authorized for driving passenger cars only ― will be qualified to drive taxis. The current law limited taxi licenses to only grade-one drivers, able to drive all passenger cars, cargo trucks and vans.
bjs@koreatimes.co.kr
