The perpetrator in the so-called "Busan spinning kick" case, whose 20-year prison sentence was finalized after a conviction for assault with intent to commit rape, received an additional prison term for allegedly threatening retaliation against the victim while in custody.
On the 12th, the Busan District Court Seobu Branch Criminal Division 1 (Presiding Judge Kim Joo-gwan, Director General) sentenced a person surnamed Lee in his 30s, who was indicted on charges including retaliatory threats under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes, as well as insult and coercion, to one year in prison.
In court, Lee denied the charges, saying, "I had absolutely no reason or intention to retaliate against the victim in the spinning kick case or to carry it out, and I never said such a thing," but the court did not accept the claim.
The court found that the relevant witness statements were generally consistent and showed no indication of being fabricated. It also said, "The defendant committed a serious crime that threatened the victim's life, did not reflect even while incarcerated, and went on to commit additional offenses, and the victim suffered renewed pain from this case, making the defendant's culpability poor." However, it added that it reflected in sentencing that this offense is in a concurrent-offense relationship with the earlier crime.
Lee was indicted in the "Busan spinning kick" case for following and assaulting a woman who was returning home in May 2022 in a residential area of Busanjin District, Busan, and his 20-year prison sentence was finalized by the Supreme Court in Sep. 2023, with Lee now serving the term.
Right after the first-instance verdict in the Busan spinning kick case, in Feb. 2023, while being held at the Busan Detention Center, Lee was brought to trial on charges of telling a fellow inmate—while mentioning the victim's home address—that he would escape and harm the victim. He was also charged with sending a threatening letter to an ex-girlfriend and coercing a cellmate to bring in items purchased for visits.
Meanwhile, the victim, Kim Jin-ju (alias), raised concerns after the first-instance verdict that the sentencing guidelines for retaliatory threat crimes are insufficient. Kim said, "When a perpetrator threatens retaliation against a victim, the victim experiences immense pain in reality, but because actual retaliation has not occurred, the state seems to take it too lightly," adding, "There is a need to reset the sentencing guidelines for retaliatory threat crimes."