"Drink a Bottle at Once": Why Bar Owners Avoided Prison Time After Woman's Death

Two bar owners in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, who pressured a female entertainment worker to chug about 1.5 bottles—equivalent to 700ml—of whiskey at once and then left her to die after she collapsed, have been given confirmed suspended prison sentences.

The two owners in their 20s, who run a bar in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, were indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter. In June, the Changwon District Court sentenced each of them to one year in prison, suspended for two years, along with 120 hours of community service.

According to the investigation, the owners proposed a bet during a birthday party for a female entertainment worker in her 20s at their karaoke bar at around 4:00 AM on February 5 of last year, telling her, "If you chug a bottle and a half of whiskey all at once, we will give you 5 million won in cash."

The female worker drank all of it within a minute, was left unattended in a severely intoxicated state, and subsequently died from acute alcohol poisoning.

At the time, her blood alcohol concentration reportedly reached a staggering 0.485%.

The court pointed out, "The defendants encouraged the victim to drink through a cash bet, and after she collapsed from drinking, they failed to take appropriate measures and abandoned her, ultimately leading to the irreversible outcome of a young victim in her 20s losing her life."

However, the court explained the reasoning behind its ruling by noting favorable mitigating factors: "The defendants admitted to all crimes and showed remorse, and they paid 130 million won to reach a settlement with the bereaved family, who do not wish for their punishment."

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video Editing by IYOO | Design by Lee Jeong-ju | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.