Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]
Photo is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images Bank]

A man in his 50s who attacked a seafarer employment agency owner in his 70s with a weapon, venting his anger over unpaid wages, has received a suspended prison sentence.

Judge Kim Hyeon-seok of the Busan District Court sentenced the defendant, identified only as A, to one year and six months in prison, suspended for three years, on charges of aggravated assault. The court also ordered 160 hours of community service.

A was indicted on charges of stabbing B, the agency owner in his 70s, five times in the neck with a weapon and striking his face with fists and feet multiple times at a seafarer employment agency in Jung-gu, Busan, in July, causing injuries.

A had previously worked for two weeks as a crew member on an anchovy fishing vessel through B's referral, but reportedly did not receive wages from the vessel owner on the grounds that he had not completed the agreed three-month work period.

On the day of the incident, A visited the agency while intoxicated and asked B to help him negotiate with the vessel owner to recover his wages. When B said he could not reach the vessel owner, A stormed out of the building — but stabbed B with a weapon when B followed him outside.

B sustained two stab wounds to the neck, a head contusion and a laceration inside the left ear.

"The defendant has prior convictions for similar offenses, yet committed this crime using a dangerous weapon, making the nature of the offense serious," the court said in its ruling. "However, the sentence was determined taking into account that the defendant has shown remorse and that the victim does not wish to see him punished."


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