Korean actress Kim Sae-ron attended her first trial on charges of drunk driving that happened in Seoul last year.
The 22-year-old star of the drama “The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim” and movie “A Man from Nowhere” personally appeared at the Seoul Central District Court on March 8. She is accused of violating Korea’s Road Traffic Act.
(Clockwise from top left) Korean actress Kim Sae-ron leaves the courthouse after attending her trial on drunk driving; CCTV footage showing the actress ramming a transformer in May last year: and a photo she uploaded on Instagram (Screenshots from MBC News and YTN, and photo from Instagram)
On May 18 last year, a drunk Kim Sae-ron was driving in Cheongdam, Gangnam in Seoul when she crashed and hit a guardrail, tree and a transformer. When she hit the transformer, it caused a power outage affecting 57 business establishments in the area.
In July, her case of drunk driving was sent to the prosecution, according to the police.
The Gangnam Police Station in Seoul sent Kim Sae-ron to the prosecution without detention on charges of drunk driving and taking no action after an accident in violation of the Korean law Road Traffic Act.
In addition, a 20-year-old man who was riding with Kim Sae-ron was also sent to the prosecution on charges of aiding drunk driving.
Last May 18, a drunk Kim Sae-ron, star of the drama “The Great Shaman Ga Doo-shim” and movie “A Man from Nowhere,” was driving in Cheongdam, Gangnam in Seoul when she crashed and hit a guardrail, tree and a transformer.
When she hit the transformer, it caused a power outage affecting 57 business establishments in the area.
But after ramming the transformer, Kim Sae-ron drove away but was caught by the police. She refused to take a breathalyzer and asked the police for her to undergo a blood alcohol test and was taken to a nearby hospital.
Her blood sample was sent to the National Forensic Service for analysis. The result showed that her blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.2 percent at the day of her accident, which, under Korea’s law, merited the revocation of her driver’s license.
Under the Road Traffic Act, “The threshold for the state of intoxication at which a person is prohibited from driving a motor vehicle, etc. . . . shall be not less than 0.03 percent of blood-alcohol concentration.”
Under Article 148-2 of the Act, “A person whose blood alcohol content is not less than 0.2 percent shall be punished by imprisonment with labor for not less than 2 years but not more than 5 years or by a fine not less than 10 million [about $8,000) won but not exceeding 20 million won [about $16,000].”
Prosecutors have asked the Seoul court to sentence Kim Sae-ron to a fine of 20 million won ($15,145) and a fine of 5 million won ($3,786) to Mr. A, who was the star’s passenger in the car when the accident happened.