The perpetrator in the so-called "Busan roundhouse kick" case will now be allowed to use a set amount each month from the deposit left in the correctional facility. The decision comes as the victim, having won a damages suit worth 100 million won, sought to garnish the perpetrator's deposit to recover the compensation.
According to legal sources on the 15th, the Busan District Court's Seobu Branch granted a request by the Busan roundhouse kick case perpetrator, a person surnamed Lee, to change the scope of non-garnishable claims. As a result, Lee will be allowed to use up to 100,000 won per month from the deposit. The deposit is money left by an inmate or family for use while living in a correctional facility, such as for buying items at the commissary. It is also called a custody deposit.
Earlier, a person surnamed Kim won a 100 million won damages lawsuit against Lee. Kim was then said to have moved to garnish Lee's deposit in the correctional facility to recover the damages.
Because food, clothing, and shelter are provided by the state to inmates, amounts even below the minimum cost of living can be subject to enforcement, except for a certain exempt portion. Kim had been checking the balance of Lee's deposit at the correctional facility to collect the damages, but it was recently known that the balance had not even 1,000 won left, making garnishment effectively difficult.
In this situation, Lee applied to the court to be allowed to use part of the deposit each month for reasons including hospital bills and commissary purchases, and the court accepted the request. Lee was also reportedly permitted once last year to use a certain amount of the deposit.
The victim's side is reportedly planning to appeal this decision. This is said to reflect that Lee has never voluntarily paid compensation and that the amount recovered so far falls far short of the total damages.
Lee was brought to trial on charges including following a woman returning home and assaulting her in a studio apartment building's common entrance in Busanjin District, Busan, in May 2022, and attempting a sex crime. In September 2023, the Supreme Court finalized a 20-year prison sentence for Lee on charges including attempted rape and murder. While incarcerated, Lee was additionally sentenced to one year in prison at first instance for charges including retaliatory threats against the victim, and the appeal trial is ongoing.