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The Supreme Prosecutors’ Office of Korea
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Kim Hun has already been fined twice for driving drunk
South Korea’s prosecutors have asked the Ministry of Justice to dismiss a prosecutor who was caught driving while intoxicated on three occasions. “Kim Hun, a senior prosecutor at the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, drove while under the influence despite having already been disciplined twice for doing so. Following a review by the internal affairs board, we asked the Ministry of Justice to discipline Kim by dismissing him,” the internal affairs office at the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office said on Mar. 20. Dismissal is the most severe disciplinary action that the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office can take against a prosecutor. The actual disciplinary measures will be decided by a disciplinary board convened by the Ministry of Justice. Kim was caught driving while intoxicated in 2015 and 2017 and then this past January. After the first incident in August 2015, Kim – who then held the rank of deputy chief prosecutor at the Bucheon branch office of the Incheon District Prosecutors’ Office – was relieved of his duties, transferred to the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office and fined 4 million won (US$3,549). After later being appointed head of the Yeoju branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office, Kim was caught once again by police watching for drunk drivers near his office in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, in April 2017. He had a blood alcohol level of 0.09%, high enough for his license to be suspended. Once again, he got off with a fine, this time 3 million won (US$2,662). On Jan. 27, Kim scraped against a vehicle while driving through his apartment complex in Seoul’s Seocho neighborhood. When the other driver suspected Kim of being drunk, he fled to his home. The police arrested him on the spot when he refused to let them administer a sobriety test. His blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.264%, sufficient for his license to be revoked. By Choi Woo-ri, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
