Former short track national team member Kim Dong-sung was sentenced to six months in prison for failing to pay child support for his two children. However, he was not detained in court.
On the 10th, according to Yonhap News and others, Judge Kang Young-seon of Criminal Division 14 at Suwon District Court sentenced Kim Dong-sung, who was prosecuted without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Assurance and Support of Child Support, to six months in prison. This sentence is heavier than the four-month prison term the prosecution had sought earlier.
However, Kim Dong-sung was not detained immediately after the sentence. On this point, the court explained, "We consider that enforcing the unpaid child support within a set period, rather than immediately detaining the defendant, is more appropriate for protecting the minor children."
The court also explained the reasoning for the sentence: "When the defendant divorced his spouse in 2018, he paid only part of the monthly 3 million won ordered for his two minor children. At his request, the child support was reduced to 1.6 million won, and when a confinement order was issued at the request of his former spouse, he paid part of the unpaid child support, but since then he has paid no child support for about three years and 10 months."
In particular, the court said, "As of the time of this sentence, the total unpaid amount appears to be considerable, and considering the defendant's age, career, health, and the reduced child support amount, there does not appear to be a justified reason for nonpayment. The defendant seems to prioritize maintaining his own standard of living over paying child support to his children, and to date he has only mentioned vague payment plans, raising doubts about whether he has a realistic intention to carry them out."
The fact that the former spouse has petitioned for severe punishment also factored into the need for a prison sentence commensurate with the guilt. Accordingly, the court said it would not detain him in court but warned that he could serve the sentence if he did not fulfill his payment obligations by the time of the appeal.
Kim Dong-sung was prosecuted without detention on charges of failing to pay child support for the two children his former wife has been raising since 2019. The unpaid child support is reported to be about 90 million won.
[Photo] OSEN database.
[OSEN]