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 14th Criminal Division of the Suwon District Court 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 Violent Acts.

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 defendants—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 charged with dragging a man in his 20s into a building and brutally beating him with their fists and feet on June 13, 2024, at approximately 7:30 a.m. on a road in front of a building in Gwonseon-gu, Suwon. The assault occurred after they claimed they made eye contact with the victim while smoking.

The victim in his 20s lost consciousness and suffered severe injuries, including a fractured right maxilla, requiring six weeks of medical treatment.

Five of the defendants, including A and B, were found to have joined and operated as members of the Suwon C gang, a criminal organization, 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 the culpability is not light," adding, "The degree of injury is also severe, as they took 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sentencing that the defendants were merely low-level members within the criminal organization, that they have all since withdrawn from the group and pledged to live diligently in their daily lives, and that they have reached an amicable settlement with the victim, who does not wish for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)