Civil servant accused of mentioning “legal action” against the person involved in the assault… Prosecutor, no charges

A public official who was assaulted by a drunk customer at a restaurant and was accused of attempted extortion after saying, “I will take legal action,” was acquitted.

According to the legal community on the 2nd, the Chuncheon District Prosecutors' Office decided not to indict Mr. A, a man in his 50s who was suspected of attempted extortion. Mr. A was assaulted in September last year while trying to stop Mr. B, a man in his 60s who was drunk and causing a commotion at a restaurant in Chuncheon. Mr. B went to the workplace of Mr. A, a public servant, saying he would apologize, but submitted a complaint to the investigative agency, claiming that Mr. A pressured him to file a claim for damages and demanded money.

Mr. A denied all charges. He claimed, “Even when Mr. B came to apologize, he did not show sincerity by saying, ‘I don’t remember because I was drunk,’ so I only said that I would follow proper legal procedures,” and added, “I had no intention of demanding money or threatening him.”

The prosecution ruled that there were no charges, considering that Mr. B's statements were inconsistent and that it was difficult to clearly prove that Mr. A had requested money. In addition, even if Mr. A attempted to receive a certain level of financial compensation, considering that he suffered criminal damage such as assault and abusive language from Mr. B, it was deemed that it could not be considered an illegal act that went beyond social norms.

Mr. A's legal representative, Han Min-young, an attorney at the Daeryun Law Firm, said, "If notice of harm is used as a legitimate means of realizing rights in a crime of extortion, whether or not it is permissible must be judged by comprehensively considering the purpose and means. Mr. A faithfully explained that bringing up the lawsuit was not a threat, but an announcement that rights can be realized through due legal procedures."

Reporter Jeong Cheol-wook

[View full article]
The accused public official mentioned “legal action” against the assaulter… Prosecutors, no charges (Shortcut)