Kim Sae-ron gets 20 million won fine for DUI incident

연합뉴스 / 2023-03-08 17:45:34

▲ Actress Kim Sae-ron, who crashed into a street tree and a transformer while driving under the influence of alcohol in May last year, is attending the first trial held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the morning of the 8th. (Yonhap)

SEOUL, Mar. 8 (Yonhap) -- The prosecution has demanded a fine for actor Kim Sae-ron (23), who crashed into street trees and transformers while driving after drinking.

The prosecution asked the court to sentence the defendant to a fine of 20 million won at Kim's trial held at the hearing of Judge Lee Hwan-ki of Seoul Central District Court on Wednesday.

The prosecution pointed out, "The defendant ran away without any action even though she caused an accident while driving under the influence of alcohol with a very high blood alcohol level." However, he added, "She confessed all the crimes and tried to recover the damage by agreeing with the affected merchants."

Kim, who attended the court in a black blouse with her hair tied short, sat in the defendant's seat and listened to the trial quietly.

Asked by the court if there was anything she wanted to say, she said, "This will never happen again. I'm so sorry. I am reflecting on myself.”

Kim's lawyer said, "The defendant is suffering from economic difficulties due to the huge amount of compensation for damage," asking for leniency.

After the trial, Kim briefly replied, "I'm sorry" to the reporters' question, "Do you have anything to say?" and left the court building.

The prosecution demanded a fine of 5 million won for Kim's passenger at the time of the accident.

The court will rule on the morning of the 5th of next month.

Kim hit a guardrail and a street tree several times while driving under the influence of alcohol in Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, around 8 a.m. on May 18 last year.

Kim's car also collided with a transformer, cutting off electricity supply to 57 nearby stores, and was restored in about three hours.

At the time of the accident, Kim's blood alcohol concentration was measured to be more than 0.2%, far exceeding the license cancellation level.

Kim, a former child actor, appeared in movies such as "The Man from Nowhere," "The Neighbors" and "Barbie," as well as dramas such as "Queen of the Classroom" and "Secret Healer," but stopped working after the accident.

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Yunhee Cho.)

(END)