Man who drowned intellectually disabled teen after rigged rock-paper-scissors game ordered to pay W495m in damages

In February 2024, a high school student with a severe intellectual disability drowned at a pier in Mokpo, South Jeolla Province. The death was initially reported as an accidental fall. Those present told the Korea Coast Guard that the incident had been a mishap during horseplay, and the coast guard accepted their account. A follow-up investigation by prosecutors revealed the truth.

The reality was that a man in his 20s, identified as A, had forcibly pushed the victim — who looked up to him like an older brother — into the sea. A had first stripped the victim of all his clothing, then struck him on the arms, legs and body before shoving him into the water.

A and the victim were from the same neighborhood, with A being the older of the two. The victim had a severe intellectual disability, with an IQ just above 50. Four people were present that day: A, the victim, A's girlfriend and a younger neighborhood acquaintance of A. The group had played billiards together before heading to the pier to fish and order food.

The incident began when A suggested that whoever lost a round of rock-paper-scissors would have to jump into the sea. The outcome was predetermined from the outset — A already knew the victim's rock-paper-scissors patterns, so the victim lost as expected.

The victim refused to enter the water. A responded with verbal abuse and assault, and when the victim bent forward, A shoved him into the sea. The others present did nothing to stop A and instead filmed the scene on their phones.

The case nearly went undetected. After the victim died, A and the others lied to the coast guard, claiming the death had been an accidental mishap during horseplay. A's girlfriend and the younger acquaintance also gave false statements, posing as ordinary witnesses.

The coast guard believed them. A was referred to prosecutors only on charges of gross negligent homicide — consistent with A's own account that the victim's death had been the result of carelessness.

Prosecutors conducted a follow-up investigation and carried out a detailed analysis of closed-circuit television footage. Mobile phone forensics then uncovered evidence showing A shoving and assaulting the victim.

In the criminal trial, A received a confirmed sentence of four years in prison. The Supreme Court upheld the four-year term in May last year, following the same ruling at both the first and second instance courts. The sentencing panel said the victim, at 18, "had not yet had the chance to fully bloom in life, and came to an unexpected end because of the actions of A, whom he had looked up to as an older brother."

Courts at all three levels declined to convict A of murder, departing from the prosecutors' position. Prosecutors had indicted A on murder charges, but the court ruled that "there was insufficient basis to find intent to kill" and instead found A guilty of assault causing death — concluding that the victim died as a result of the assault. A's companions were referred to the juvenile division on charges of aiding and abetting the assault.

The victim's family has won a civil damages suit against A, it has been confirmed.

According to legal sources Tuesday, the first civil division of the Mokpo branch of Gwangju District Court, presided over by Judge Jang Chan-su, ruled on June 12 that A must pay the victim's family a total of 495.27 million won ($329,000).

Citing the outcome of the criminal trial, the court said it recognized that "A led the unlawful act and directly pushed the victim into the seawater, causing him to drown," and found that A bore liability for damages.

The court said it had taken into account "the malicious nature of the unlawful act and the gravity of its consequences, the extreme fear and physical and mental suffering the victim would have experienced at the scene, and the profound mental anguish of the bereaved family confronted with such a devastating outcome."

The family had also sought damages from the others who were present, but that claim was rejected. The court ruled that those individuals "did not directly participate in the assault" and that "it would have been difficult for them to foresee that the victim would drown as a result of A's sudden and unexpected violent act."

The ruling was finalized July 3, after neither side filed an appeal against the first-instance decision.