Business Owner in His 60s Sentenced to 3 Years for Firing Air Gun into Foreign Worker’s Anus

Victim underwent surgery for traumatic rectal perforation
Court: "He even urged the victim to leave the country that night to cover up the incident"

A business owner in his 60s who fired an industrial air gun into a foreign worker's anus, causing serious injuries including ruptured organs, has been sentenced to prison.

According to Yonhap News Agency on October 15, Judge Gu Nayoung of Suwon District Court's Criminal Division 9 said that a business owner in his 60s, identified as A, who runs a metal-cleaning company, had been sentenced to three years in prison. A had been indicted while in custody on charges of aggravated bodily injury and violating the Labor Standards Act. The court dismissed the prosecution of B, a company director and A's wife, who was also indicted on a charge of intimidation.

A view of Suwon District Court. Yonhap News Agency

A was indicted for allegedly inserting the nozzle of an industrial air gun into the anus of C, a Thai man in his 40s who worked at A's company in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on February 20, and firing high-pressure air for about seven seconds. C was diagnosed with, among other injuries, a traumatic rectal perforation about 10 centimeters long and underwent surgery. B was accused of threatening the victim, who needed emergency surgery at the time, by saying, "Illegal resident, police," and pretending with her hands to put on handcuffs, as if she would report him to the police as an illegal resident if he did not return to his home country. Prosecutors sought a seven-year prison sentence for A and a one-year sentence for B.

During the trial, A's side argued that "we acknowledge that he pressed the air gun's handle as a joke and fired it about three times," but denied that "he inserted the nozzle into the victim's anus and injected air for seven seconds." The court rejected the argument. "Based on the victim's consistent testimony and medical records, the court finds that the defendant held the victim by the waist with one hand, inserted the nozzle into his anus, and fired it for seven to eight seconds," the court said. "The victim said, 'It hurts,' but the defendant appears to have continued firing without stopping for some time."

The court also noted that A had shown no remorse despite causing serious bodily injury to the victim.

"Even as the victim was suffering after being injured, the defendant laughed as if he found it amusing," the court said. "Later, despite being told by the hospital where the victim received treatment that he 'needed surgery at a higher-level hospital immediately,' the defendant urged him to leave the country that night in an attempt to cover up the incident." Explaining its sentencing decision, the court also pointed out that A deducted from C's wages the medical expenses resulting from his crime, saying, "Even though he reached a settlement with the victim, the crime remains serious."

The court also found A guilty of assaulting another foreign worker by pressing down on his head or pulling his hair, rejecting the claim that it was "just a joke" as "merely the defendant's one-sided account." As for B, the court dismissed the prosecution, explaining that "the charge is one that cannot be prosecuted over the victim's objection, and the victim does not wish for her to be punished."

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