A case in which an uncle who had been sexually harassing his niece was beaten up by her and her boyfriend, with the niece brandishing a weapon, has been ruled by the Supreme Court to be a 'justifiable act' - one that did not break the law. The incident occurred in 2017. The victim, Ms A, who was in her 20s at the time, had been sexually harassed by her uncle, Mr B, on multiple occasions over several years. On July 2, 2017, Ms A and her boyfriend, Mr C, confronted Mr B at his home in Seoul. During the argument, Mr B made a threatening remark, saying, “You will be the one who ends up dead.” In response, Mr C physically assaulted Mr B, and Ms A brought out a weapon - a 19cm kitchen knife - from her bag and threatened him. As a result, Mr B suffered a fractured nose and required 14 weeks of medical treatment. The two were indicted for assault and battery and for carrying a deadly weapon. The Supreme Court ultimately ruled that the actions of Ms A and Mr C constituted a 'justifiable act' under Article 20 of the Criminal Act, which provides that an act that is conducted in accordance with social norms and is deemed reasonable under the circumstances is not a crime. The Supreme Court emphasized that it is necessary to consider the context and circumstances of the case when determining whether an act is justifiable. The court also noted that the lower courts had failed to fully consider the background and circumstances of the case, and that they had made an error in their interpretation of the law. The Supreme Court's decision was made on Thursday.
We haven't written up this one. Hankyoreh has the full story — the link below goes straight to it.
