A petition calling for higher penalties for drunk drivers in South Korea, which was launched after a Taiwanese student was killed in a drunk-driving incident earlier this month, has in just five days collected the amount of signatures that requires the government in Seoul to respond.
On the Web site of the South Korean presidential office, more than 200,000 people had as of noon yesterday signed the petition, the threshold that requires governmental response.
The petition launched by the parents and a South Korean friend of the victim was initiated after 28-year-old Elaine Tseng (曾以琳), who was a doctoral student at Torch Trinity Graduate University in Seoul, was killed while walking home by a drunk driver who ran a red light.
In South Korea, drunk drivers who cause deaths face a sentence of no less than three years or a life sentence at most, while people who cause injuries under the influence of alcohol face a sentence of one to 15 years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won (US$27,122).
Although the maximum term that drunk drivers face in South Korea is harsher than in Taiwan, Tseng’s parents on Wednesday said that legal precedent suggests that South Korean judges typically hand down more lenient sentences than their Taiwanese counterparts.
The petition says that driving under the influence is “premeditated murder,” adding that it should be punished harder than other crimes.
“These accidents can happen to people of all nationalities, ages and genders... We hope that with harsher penalties, such tragedies will never happen again,” the petition says.
For the January-to-March period, deaths caused by drunk driving in South Korea rose 6.8 percent from a year earlier, while the number of accidents caused by drunk drivers rose 24.4 percent, South Korean police data showed.
Critics said that social distancing and mask wearing requirement have made it more difficult for police to crack down on drunk driving.
Reacting to the strong support for the petition, Tseng’s father, Tseng Kin-fui (曾慶暉), an anesthesiologist at Chiayi Hospital, said that he was grateful to the people who have lent support.
In a video message, he urged the South Korean government to pay closer attention to the issue and impose harsher penalties.
He and his wife hoped that the death of their daughter would prevent such tragedies from happening, Tseng Kin-fui said.
“Elaine will not come back, but we will extend her love to help others. We hope Elaine will be the last victim,” he said.
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