Policemen punished for death of man they escorted close to home

This photo shows police officers stationed in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, Dec.25. (Yonhap)

Two South Korean policemen have been fined after the intoxicated man they escorted to the building he lived in froze to death, a local court said Sunday.

The Seoul Northern District Court imposed a fine of 5 million won ($3,800) and 4 million won, respectively, to a police sergeant and a senior patrolman of Seonguk Police Station on the charge of death by occupational negligence.

In November of 2022, the defendants escorted a man in his 60s who was heavily intoxicated back to the multifamily residential building where he lived, in Suyu-dong, Seoul, at around 1:30 a.m. The two officers left the man sitting on the stairs inside the building but did not check to see if he made it back inside his home.

The victim was found dead around six hours later, and an autopsy showed his cause of death was hypothermia. The temperature at Suyu-dong around his time of death was about minus 7 degrees Celsius.

The police pressed criminal charges against the officers in June 2023, saying that they should have been aware of the risks based on the weather and the victim's state.

Article 4 of the Act on Performance of Duties by Police Officers stipulates that a police officer must take appropriate measures to protect those who might inflict danger and injury on his or her own life or the life of any other person, due to being in an intoxicated state.

The bereaved family of the victim submitted a letter asking authorities not to punish the officers, but the prosecution indicted the officers in June. South Korean law prohibits the punishment of certain crimes when the victim explicitly states that he or she does not want the offender to be punished, but such rights are not transferred to the bereaved family upon one's death.

By Yoon Min-sik(minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)