Former Suwon Gang Members Receive Suspended Sentences for Brutal Assault Over 'Eye Contact'

▲ Suwon District Court and Suwon High Court

Former members of a criminal organization in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, who collectively assaulted a passerby after claiming they made eye contact on the street, have received suspended prison sentences in their first trial.

The 14th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court sentenced six individuals, including a person identified as A, to prison terms ranging from one to two years, suspended for three years, on charges including violations of the Act on the Punishment of Acts of Violence.

The court sentenced A, who played a leading role in the assault, to two years in prison suspended for three years, and B to one year and six months in prison suspended for three years.

The remaining four individuals—one who participated in the assault and three others identified during the investigation as members of the same criminal organization—were each sentenced to one year in prison suspended for three years.

A and two others were indicted on charges of dragging a man in his 20s into a building and repeatedly punching and kicking him after they made eye contact while smoking in front of a building in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, around 7:30 a.m. on June 13, 2024.

The victim lost consciousness and suffered severe injuries, including a fractured right maxilla, requiring six weeks of medical treatment.

Investigations revealed that five of the defendants, including A and B, had joined and operated as active members of the Suwon-based criminal organization known as the C faction between January 2022 and April 2023.

The court stated, "Violent criminal organizations pose a serious threat to the maintenance of social order and create anxiety among law-abiding citizens, so their culpability is not light," adding, "The degree of injury is also severe, as they dragged the victim to a secluded area to assault him."

The court further explained, "However, we took into account in sentencing that the defendants were merely low-level members within the criminal organization, that they have all since withdrawn from the group and pledged to live diligently in their daily lives, and that they have reached an amicable settlement with the victim, who does not wish for them to be punished."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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