Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wylies99]

Young officer in coma after being hit by drunk driver

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2915431

A dream of becoming a career police officer has been dashed for Kim Ji-hun, 21, who was hit by a drunken driver at a road block while serving his military service as an auxiliary police officer.

On Dec. 11 at around 10 p.m., Kim and three fellow policemen were on duty in Seosan, South Chungcheong. A car approaching the checkpoint they were manning suddenly backed up and made a U-turn, hitting Kim, who was standing in the opposite lane. Stuck under the car, he was dragged about 700 meters (2,296 feet) until another car blocked the runaway vehicle.

The driver of the fleeing vehicle was found to have a blood alcohol content if 0.102 percent, a level at which a driver�s license is revoked.

In Korea, operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol content of 0.05 percent or above represents driving under the influence, and results in a temporary license suspension. A license is revoked at 0.1 percent or above.

The friction between Kim�s body and the road resulted in the skin on one side of his head being peeled down to the bone. He also lost most of the skin from his back, thigh and elbow. His right eye, was burned by the underside of the car�s engine.

He had to undergo major surgery, during which parts of his brain had to be removed. Doctors have said it will be impossible for him to resume a normal life, even if he recovers.

Kim has been in a coma for over a month in an intensive care unit at the Samsung Medical Center in Gangnam, southern Seoul, breathing with the help of a respirator.

Heavy layers of bandage are wrapped around his head and a tube runs into his nose. His entire body is disinfected in an operation room every day, starting at 10:30 a.m.

Kim�s mother, Pyeon Gyeong-geum, 45, has been forced to quit her job selling food from a street cart in Hongseong, South Chungcheong, because of the accident. When she visited the hospital to see her son, Kim�s colleagues blocked her from entering the room due to the shock she would be sure to receive from seeing the injured young man.

Pyeon is renting a small room near the hospital in order to take care of her son. Doctors have said he will have to remain in the hospital for a long time.

She said her son was proud of serving the country as an auxiliary police officer and wanted to go on to become a real policeman.

�I can still remember the time my son came home for the first time wearing his police uniform,� Pyeon said. �He showed up and said how great it felt to be in uniform. He kept looking at himself in the mirror.�

Whenever Kim was on leave, he would help his mother by carrying heavy supply orders to the food cart.

�My son told me that he would buy a house for me after he makes enough money. He told me just to wait for a while,� she sobbed.

Due to the family�s economic situation, Kim decided to serve his military service right after high school. He is scheduled to be discharged in September.

According to the National Policy Agency, nearly 100 policemen are either injured or killed every year while checking for drunken drivers.

�Drunk driving is both suicide and murder,� said Kang Jeong-suk, 51, head of an organization of policemen�s parents. �[Police officers] are exposed to dangerous inspection spots without being equipped with safety tools.�

Police said the driver who hit Kim had been on his way home after drinking with a woman.

�The driver kept saying he remembers nothing about hitting Kim,� said an investigator who asked not to be identified.

In a separate case from 2006, a drunken driver in his 40s killed a police officer with his vehicle. Holding on to the car door, the officer was dragged for 1.5 kilometers (1 mile). The driver collided with the meridian to knock the officer off the car. The offender was driving without a license, and the Suwon District Court in Gyeonggi sentenced him to 18 years in prison.

The NPA said drunken drivers with second convictions in Korea accounted for 39.2 percent of all criminal offenders last year.

Experts say measures to stop drunken driving have to be strengthened. Grand National Party lawmaker Park Jun-seon introduced a revised traffic law last November under which drunken drivers who have their licenses revoked after being caught three or more times must have anti-drunken driving systems installed in their cars.

Police are planning to provide officers with vests that have LED systems installed in them so they will be more visible on dark roads.

[calicoe]

Just plain tragic.

[asams]

This is extremely sad.

[hellofaniceguy]

Drunk driver's, when caught after running over someone or causing a serious accident, should lose an arm. Period. Kill someone while driving drunk, you hang.
People knowingly drive drunk. And then claim, "I don't remember it." No excuse...you choose to be an idiot scumbag who want to drink and drive, pay the price! No one forces you to drink and drive! Drunk drivers are scum.

[Gwangjuboy]

[proustme]

I predict the drunk driver will be revealed to have had "a hard life."

It's sad how Korean police officers will report this to the media before trial in an effort to respect an elder and therefore influence the judge to be lenient. Let his family members stand up for him, not police officers who just repeat whatever the drunk driver says as the truth.

[Julius]

This reminds me of the shocking and tragic case of a much-liked former poster on here, Jongnoguru.

I understand he was hit while on his motorcycle. Does anyone know if the driver was brought to justice?

[TheUrbanMyth]

[asams]

I hope this thread doesn't turn into a Korea bashing. Thankfully it hasn't happened yet, but a couple posts have sounded like they were moving that way.

Drunk drivers are not exclusive to Korea, and neither are bad drivers, no please no one use this to take a shot at Koreans.

*And I'm no apologist, you can check my post history if you care.

[shinramyun]

[Captain Corea]

Sad story. Good to hear of that other case where the guy got 18 years - wish it was more though.

[hellofaniceguy]

[Easter Clark]

Nothing will come of this. He'll get a "heavy sentence" and the president will pardon all drunk drivers next year.

[itaewonguy]

there will always be drunk drivers! ALWAYS!
want to stop it.. BAN ALCOHOL!

I feel this story is not 100% either.. the cop didnt see the car coming??
didnt see the car back up?? what was he doing? taking a dump???
the witness said the car was approaching the check point and then the driver noticed the check point and did a Uturn... ummm so the cop was just chilling half way down the street????
I thought he was at the check point?

and why isnt the cop looking what's going on??? wow great work detective!

also.. "cops die every year at check points".. JESUS.. if a car is coming towards you and you think its not gonna slow down or stop for the check point.. DONT STAND IN FRONT OF IT AND YELL "HALT"!!!
do not hang onto the car door and shout at the driver to stop!!!!
JESUS CHRIST!! just let the guy go, get his plate number and send out an APB to pick him up...
sounds like half the cops who are killed by check point violators could have made it home safely that night if they just said.. " FUKC IT today is his lucky day" and just let him pass... dont try and play DUDLEY DORIGHT at a check point!
its just not worth it...

[asams]