▲ Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office, Hongseong Branch
It has been confirmed that a woman in her 30s, who caused a fatal accident while driving drunk with her young children in the vehicle in Hongseong, South Chungcheong Province, last January, has also been charged with child abuse.
According to the Hongseong Branch of the Daejeon District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday (June 25), the driver, identified as A (38), is currently on trial on charges including violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (hit-and-run resulting in death) and violating the Child Welfare Act (child abuse).
A is accused of driving her SUV while intoxicated at approximately 9:20 p.m. last January on a two-lane road in Bongsin-ri, Hongbuk-eup, Hongseong-gun, when she struck a motorcycle, killing the rider, a man in his 20s identified as B.
She is also charged with fleeing the scene without providing aid to the victim.
At the time of the accident, A's two preschool-aged children were in the vehicle with her.
Police and prosecutors determined that her actions—driving at a blood alcohol concentration level warranting license revocation while speeding—exposed her children to danger, thereby constituting child abuse.
Investigations revealed that A was driving well above the speed limit of 60 km/h (37 mph) on the road where the accident occurred.
It was reported that A's children did not sustain serious injuries.
The victim, B, was reportedly a groom-to-be who was on his way home from work when the accident occurred, adding to the tragedy.
Prosecutors have requested a 17-year prison sentence for A, and the sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 10.
Meanwhile, a similar incident recently occurred in Daejeon, and police are currently reviewing whether to apply child abuse charges in that case as well.
On the 21st, a woman in her 30s, identified as C, was driving at a blood alcohol concentration level warranting license revocation at an intersection in Byeondong, Seo-gu, Daejeon. She ran a red light, crossed the center line, and collided with a passenger car and a taxi that were making right turns from the opposite direction.
Five people, including the taxi driver, were injured in the accident, and C has been booked on charges of violating the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Settlement of Traffic Accidents.
C's children, aged 8 and 6, were in the vehicle at the time, and it is reported that neither C nor her children were seriously injured.
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