A man in his 20s who forcefully pushed a swing his friend was riding, causing serious injuries, has been ordered to pay nearly 200 million won in damages.
According to legal sources on the 12th, recently Director General Judge Kim Hyun-ryong of the Cheongju District Court's Civil Division 3, sitting alone, ruled partly in favor of the plaintiff in a damages suit filed by A, in his 20s, against his friend B.
The court ordered A to pay B about 196 million won of the roughly 217 million won in damages sought.
The incident occurred on Dec. 4, 2020, at a playground in Cheongju. B forcefully pushed the swing A was riding four times, and A lost grip of the swing's ropes and fell from the air.
A suffered a serious injury, including a lower back injury requiring 32 weeks of treatment, and was left with permanent aftereffects despite treatment.
The court said, "B pushed the swing with an unreasonably excessive force as if it did not matter if A got hurt," and added, "We set the amount of compensation considering A's 22% loss of earning capacity and medical expenses."
However, the court also found A negligent for not asking B not to push the swing hard or for not gripping the swing's ropes firmly. This was the basis for ordering a reduction of about 10% from the claimed damages.
Earlier, B was summarily indicted in connection with the case on a charge of injury by negligence and was fined 5 million won. A summary indictment is a procedure in which prosecutors do not bring the suspect to a formal trial and instead ask the court, based only on written submissions, to impose a fine or fines.