A man in his 20s who threatened his girlfriend with a knife and stalked her with dozens of contact attempts—angered that she had spent a night out with coworkers—has received a suspended prison sentence.
Jeong Jong-geon, a senior judge at the Chuncheon District Court's Criminal Division 1, sentenced A, 29, to one year in prison, suspended for two years, on charges of special intimidation, property destruction, and violating the Stalking Punishment Act, the court said Thursday.
The court also ordered A to undergo probation, complete a 40-hour course on preventing stalking reoffenses, and perform 80 hours of community service.
A was indicted on charges that in July last year, during an argument with his then-girlfriend B, 31, over her having spent a night out with coworkers, he brought a knife from the kitchen and threatened her, saying, "Let's die together."
A's threats continued afterward. About two weeks later, A told B, "I need to know the man you were with when you spent the night out. I'll kill that man and go to prison," and repeatedly engaged in threatening behavior, including displaying acts of self-harm.
Police eventually decided to separate A from the victim and imposed emergency measures.
A ignored these measures and attempted contact a total of 91 times over two days by phone calls, text messages, and social media messages.
Even after receiving an emergency measure from police barring "access via telecommunications," A again sent messages on five occasions.
"The fact that the defendant admits to the crime and has no prior criminal record are mitigating factors," the court said in explaining its sentencing. "However, we considered comprehensively that he not only repeatedly threatened the victim with a dangerous object, but also failed to comply with the police separation and emergency measures and repeated his stalking, making the nature of the offense poor."
