📌 Case Summary

Incident Overview

In July 2024, a driver identified as Mr. Cha exited a hotel parking lot near Seoul City Hall Station, mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, and drove in the wrong direction onto the sidewalk.

The crash resulted in 9 deaths and 5 injuries, making it one of the most serious traffic disasters in central Seoul.


Charges & Claims

Mr. Cha was indicted for violating the Special Act on Traffic Accident Handling.

He claimed “sudden unintended acceleration” (급발진) due to vehicle malfunction.

Courts at both the first and second instances rejected this, concluding the crash was caused by driver negligence, not a defect.


Trial Outcomes

1st Trial:

Treated the various harms (pedestrian deaths/injuries and vehicle-related injuries) as separate acts (real concurrence / 실체적 경합).

Sentenced to 7 years 6 months in prison.


Appeal Court (2nd Trial):

Found that all harms stemmed from one singular driving act, thus constituting imaginary concurrence (상상적 경합).

Under this principle, only the heaviest applicable penalty applies.

Sentence reduced to 5 years (the statutory maximum under the applied charge).



Supreme Court (Final Decision on Dec 4, 2025)

Upheld the 5-year sentence.

Accepted the lower court’s conclusion that:

The entire accident was caused by one continuous act of negligent driving.

There was no error in rejecting the sudden acceleration defense.

The reasoning did not violate any evidentiary or legal principles.



What Is “Imaginary Concurrence”?

A legal concept where one act results in multiple offenses.

Punishment is capped at the penalty for the most severe offense, unlike real concurrence where sentences can be increased.

Article: https://www.lawtimes.co.kr/Case-curation/213799