S Korea upholds sentence in death of TaiwaneseStaff writer, with CNAA South Korean court on Wednesday upheld an eight-year prison sentence handed down to a South Korean man who killed a Taiwanese student while driving under the influence of alcohol in Seoul. The ruling upheld the Seoul Central District Court’s sentence issued on April 14. Kim, who had pled guilty, requested leniency from the district court, claiming he had difficulty driving at the time because a contact lens he was wearing had slipped out of place, diminishing his vision. The court dismissed his plea and levied a heavier sentence than the six years prosecutors were seeking, adding that Kim had twice previously been found guilty of drunk driving. After Tseng’s death, her parents and a South Korean friend on Nov. 23 last year launched a petition on the Web site of the South Korean presidential office calling for the maximum sentence for vehicular homicide to be raised, to ensure the punishment would be severe enough to prevent similar tragedies.

Source: Taipei Times August 26, 2021 15:56 UTC