Altercation turns deadly with a weapon
16-year prison term confirmed in criminal trial
Civil court orders 410.35 million won in damages
A man in his 50s who killed a junior acquaintance from middle school — with whom he had been on bad terms since a brawl at a gambling den six years earlier — has been ordered to pay about 400 million won ($295,000) in damages to the victim's family.
According to legal sources, Judge Lee Won-shin of the civil fourth single-judge division at the Cheonan branch of Daejeon District Court ruled in favor of the victim's bereaved family in late June, in a damages suit they filed against the perpetrator, identified only as A.
The court ordered A to pay a total of 410.35 million won to the family, an amount combining lost future earnings, consolation payments and other damages.
According to facts established by the court, A killed the victim with a weapon at his home in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, in December 2022.
The two men, who had known each other since middle school as a senior and junior, ran into each other by chance at a billiards hall the day before the killing and got into an argument. The victim then went to A's home, where a physical altercation broke out. In a fit of rage, A stabbed the victim. Investigators found that the two had been on poor terms since a fight that broke out during a gambling session six years earlier.
A was subsequently convicted of murder in the criminal proceedings. In July 2023, a trial court sentenced him to 16 years in prison on murder charges. A argued self-defense, claiming the killing occurred while he was defending himself, but the court rejected the claim. The criminal court said it did not appear that A's life had been under threat. That ruling was upheld and became final.
The victim's wife, children and other family members filed a civil damages suit against A last year. During the proceedings, the family argued that A bore responsibility to compensate the victim's heirs for losses caused by his unlawful act, and sought about 460 million won in damages.
The court largely accepted the family's claims. However, it capped A's liability at 90 percent, citing factors including the victim's having entered A's home and initiated the physical confrontation. The court calculated lost earnings, funeral expenses and consolation payments, deducted survivor relief funds already received, and ordered A to pay about 400 million won.
The ruling is now final. Neither side appealed the first-instance decision.
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