"You Made Eye Contact": Former Suwon Gang Members Assault Pedestrian, Leaving Him Unconscious with Fractured Jaw

Former members of a criminal gang in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, who collectively assaulted a pedestrian after claiming they made eye contact on the street, have received suspended prison sentences in their first trial.
The Suwon District Court's 14th Criminal Division sentenced six individuals, including a person identified as A, to suspended prison terms ranging from one to two years for 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 for dragging a man in his 20s into a building after he made eye contact with them while they were smoking in front of a building in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon, at approximately 7:30 a.m. on June 13, 2024, and then brutally beating him with their fists and feet.
The victim lost consciousness and sustained serious 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 low-level members of the Suwon-based C gang 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 the sentencing that the defendants were merely low-level members within the criminal organization, that they have all since withdrawn from the group and pledged to live diligently in their daily lives, and that they have reached an amicable settlement with the victim, who does not wish for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)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.