The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains today. "That Day's Today" reads the present through records of the past.
June 2, 2021. A Mercedes-Benz driver who caused a fatal accident while driving drunk at over 220 kilometers per hour in Incheon's Bukhang Tunnel was sentenced to four years in prison.
In the sentencing hearing that day, Senior Judge Jung Woo-young of the Incheon District Court's Criminal Division 21 sentenced A, a man in his 40s, to four years in prison on charges of dangerous driving causing death and drunk driving under the Road Traffic Act. He had been indicted while in custody. In September of the same year, the appellate court overturned the four-year sentence handed down by the lower court and sentenced him to six years in prison.
On December 16, 2020, around 9:10 p.m., A was driving a Mercedes-Benz in the Bukhang Tunnel on the Incheon-Gimpo section of the Second Metropolitan Area Beltway (Incheon-Gimpo Expressway) in Jung-gu, Incheon, when he rear-ended a Matiz passenger car ahead of him. B, a 41-year-old woman, was unable to escape from the Matiz, which caught fire from the impact, and passed away. B, who had worked as a counselor, had reportedly come to Incheon for work after losing her job due to COVID-19, and was on her way home when the accident occurred.
At the time of the accident, A was driving the Mercedes-Benz at a maximum speed of 229 km/h, and his blood alcohol concentration was 0.08%, the level at which a driver's license is revoked. It was confirmed that A had not applied the brakes at the moment of impact. In a police investigation, he stated, "I had a get-together with acquaintances, but I don't remember well at the time of the accident," adding, "I think I was driving drowsy."
◇ "Is Money Everything?" Victim's Mother in Tears = The first-instance court, which sentenced A to four years in prison, ruled that "A drove drowsy while intoxicated and exceeded the speed limit of 100 km/h," and that "the accident caused by A resulted in the victim's death." However, the court explained the sentencing reasons, noting that "the defendant was covered by comprehensive insurance and deposited 30 million won for the bereaved family."
During the first-instance trial, B's mother tearfully appealed, "The defendant's father approached us saying he would buy gifts for my daughter's two children," and "Please help us hold accountable those who think they can do anything with money, so they pay the strict price of South Korean law."
◇ Petition: "A Death Worse Than a Dog's" = After the first-instance ruling, a petition titled "Drunk Driving, 229 km/h Speeding Incheon Bukhang Tunnel Case" was posted on the Cheong Wa Dae national petition bulletin board. The petitioner, presumed to be a member of the victim's bereaved family, wrote, "He killed a victim with two children aged 12 and 4 by drunk driving at 229 km/h in a zone with a 100 km/h speed limit," adding, "Now, five to six months later, the trial result is that the perpetrator was sentenced to four years in prison. If it's only four years even with the strengthened Yoon Chang-ho Act applied to drunk driving, isn't this a death of a human worse than a dog's?"
The petitioner continued, "Even killing a companion dog brings a three-year sentence, but did the wealthy and capable perpetrator hire a competent lawyer to make this happen?" raising their voice, "As long as such slap-on-the-wrist punishment exists, killings caused by drunk driving will continue." The petitioner further appealed, "The deceased's mother is so unjustly aggrieved and indignant that, for the daughter she has buried in her heart, she cries out today before the law and the people with the feeling of vomiting blood. Please apply fair and equitable laws that ordinary citizens can accept."
The appellate court later ruled, "A struck and killed the victim's vehicle while intoxicated at a speed exceeding 200 km/h, and although settlements were reached with some bereaved family members, the rest are pleading for severe punishment," and "Considering these circumstances, the original sentence is unjustly light," handing down a six-year prison sentence.
◇ Drunk Driving Accidents Concentrated Around Year-End and New Year = The number of drunk driving cases caught each year far exceeds 100,000. By year, there were 130,283 cases in 2022, 130,150 in 2023, 118,874 in 2024, and 106,637 in 2025. According to the Korea Transportation Safety Authority, a total of 39,138 traffic accidents caused by drunk driving occurred over the past three years. In particular, accidents were concentrated in December and January, when drinking gatherings are frequent. Urgent measures are needed to prevent drunk driving, which is especially concentrated around the year-end and New Year, as in A's case.
