Man in His 40s Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting Postal Worker and Striking Police Officer While Fleeing

Both Postal and Police Interference Ruled Guilty
"Severity of Crime Is Extremely Poor... Consistent Disregard for Law Enforcement Authority"

A man in his 40s who assaulted a postal worker in the middle of the road and then struck a responding police officer with his car before fleeing the scene has been sentenced to imprisonment.

On July 21, Judge Ko Chulman of Criminal Division 14 of the Seoul Southern District Court sentenced Hwang (42), who was arrested and indicted on charges of obstruction of official duties and special obstruction of official duties, to one year and two months in prison.

Seoul Southern District Court. Photo by Jiye Lee

The court rejected Hwang's claim that he had not hit the police officer with his vehicle and found him guilty of all charges. Judge Ko stated, "Even if the passenger car did not physically strike the police officer, the fact that he interfered with official duties by using a vehicle, which constitutes a dangerous object, is sufficient to recognize special obstruction of official duties."

Regarding the reason for sentencing, Judge Ko said, "Even after being apprehended as a criminal caught in the act, he continued to cause disturbances and consistently showed a disregard or hostility toward law enforcement authority. In addition, despite having a significant record of similar offenses, he repeated his criminal conduct. As he exposed postal and police officers performing their duties for the public to significant danger without any particular reason, the nature of the crime is extremely poor." He added that Hwang's long-standing illness, which appeared to have influenced his actions in this case, was considered a mitigating factor in sentencing.

Hwang was brought to trial on charges of assaulting a postal worker waiting at a signal at the Ujangsan Station intersection in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, in April, then ramming his car into a responding police officer and fleeing approximately 2 km from the scene.

According to police investigation, Hwang stated that his actions were prompted by the postal worker "cutting into his lane."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.