Two bar owners get suspended sentences after hostess dies downing 700ml of whiskey on a dare

Two bar owners in their 20s have received suspended sentences after encouraging a female hostess to down roughly 700 milliliters of whiskey in a single shot by offering her cash, a dare that ultimately cost the woman her life.

The ruling became final after the victims' family said they did not want the defendants punished and the two chose not to appeal.

According to Newsis, the two owners, who ran a nightclub in Jinhae-gu, Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, were indicted on charges of negligent homicide and sentenced in June by the Changwon District Court to one year of imprisonment each, suspended for two years. The court also ordered 120 hours of community service.

At around 4 a.m. on Feb. 5 last year, the pair proposed a dare during a birthday party for a staff member at their noraebang: drink about 700 milliliters of whiskey — roughly one and a half bottles — in a single shot and receive 5 million won ($3,750) in cash.

A 26-year-old hostess identified only by her surname completed the challenge in under a minute. She was then left unattended in a heavily intoxicated state and died of acute alcohol poisoning, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.485 percent.

The court said the defendants had encouraged the victim to drink through a cash wager and then failed to take appropriate action after she collapsed, ultimately causing the irreversible loss of a young woman in her 20s.

However, the court cited mitigating factors: the defendants had admitted to all charges and shown remorse, and had reached a settlement with the bereaved family by paying 130 million won, leading the family to request leniency. "We suspend the custodial sentence but order community service so that the defendants may have time for reflection," the court said.