Taxi driver watched pornography for 30 minutes with passengers in car — but can't be punished

Footage of a taxi driver watching pornography on his phone while carrying passengers has sparked public outrage.

The incident was featured Wednesday on JTBC's "Han Mun-cheol's Blackbox," a program hosted by attorney Han Mun-cheol that reviews dashcam footage submitted by viewers.

The viewer who submitted the tip, identified only as A, said she and her husband had taken a taxi home after a medical checkup because they were unable to drive following sedation anesthesia.

A said she noticed the driver was using a second phone separate from the one mounted for navigation.

"My husband had fallen asleep, and I was tired and leaning against the window to rest, when I noticed the driver was watching something on a separate phone," she said. "Explicit pornographic content was playing on the screen."

The video continued playing for roughly 30 minutes until they reached their destination.

A said she also saw the driver turn his head toward the phone while stopped at traffic lights, not only while the car was moving.

She said she did not confront the driver at the time because she feared how he might react. "I thought he might turn on me if I said something," she said. "I couldn't say a word — I just wanted to arrive safely and get out quickly."

"If I had been alone without my husband, I think I would have been terrified," she added. "Since then, I haven't been able to take a taxi by myself."

A said she later contacted the taxi company to raise the issue, but was told only that the driver would not be assigned to her again and that further action would be difficult to take.

She asked whether the driver could be punished, noting that watching videos while driving poses a safety risk and that playing pornography with passengers present was deeply inappropriate.

Attorney Han said current law makes it difficult to penalize the driver for the act itself. On the question of public indecency charges, Han said the offense requires that the content be shown to others. "He was watching it secretly by himself," Han said. "There is no legal basis for punishment, but this kind of thing should never happen."