Strict outcome · Comparison Pair · Drunk driving
First-time citizen drunk driver: license revoked + ₩7M fine
Harm
BAC 0.12% — first offense
Sentence
₩700만 fine
Court
District Court
Guideline
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Comparison thesis
Citizen DUI: license gone, ₩7M fine. Sitting judge DUI: internal reprimand.
Strict outcome · current case
₩700만 fine
₩7M fine + 2y license revocation
First-time citizen drunk driver: license revoked + ₩7M fine
Ordinary citizen · Harm: BAC 0.12% — first offense
Lenient outcome
Administrative sanction only
Internal reprimand (견책) — remains on bench
Sitting judge caught driving drunk — internal reprimand only
Judge / Prosecutor · Harm: Above criminal BAC threshold
Under Korean law, judges judge themselves through the Judicial Ethics Committee — and the most common outcome for sitting-judge DUI is an internal reprimand that lets them keep deciding ordinary citizens' DUI cases.
Case summary
A 35-year-old office worker was caught driving with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.12% (over the 0.08% revocation threshold). Under the post-Yoon Chang-ho Act framework, his license was revoked for two years and he was fined ₩7,000,000 — the standard sanction for first-time offenders at that BAC.
Disparity flags
Sources
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