A court has ordered a man in his 70s who killed an acquaintance after the victim made a derogatory remark about his age to pay 150 million won ($111,000) in damages to the victim's family.
According to legal sources, Judge Baek Seung-jun of the Incheon District Court's Civil Division 22 ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in a damages lawsuit filed by the victim's bereaved family against the defendant, identified only as A.
The court recognized 150 million won of the 200 million won the plaintiffs had sought, and ordered the plaintiffs to bear 25 percent of litigation costs, with the remainder to be paid by the defendant.
"The victim and the bereaved family appear to have suffered extreme psychological shock and anguish," the court said, adding that A bore very heavy criminal responsibility for having sought to maximize the physical harm inflicted on the victim.
The court also noted that A had not been forgiven by the family, had made no effort to compensate for the damage, and had attempted to shift part of the blame onto the victim — all of which reflected poorly on his conduct after the killing.
A was indicted on charges of stabbing acquaintance B multiple times with a bladed weapon at a villa in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, at around 11:30 p.m. on March 1, 2024.
Investigators found that A had been drinking with B when B called him an "old fool," prompting him to carry out the attack in a fit of rage.
A was sentenced to 17 years in prison at trial, but an appeals court increased the sentence to 23 years. The Supreme Court upheld the appellate ruling.
123@heraldcorp.com
