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CHANGWON, Nov. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — A South Korean court has fined a woman for verbally insulting a parking attendant, telling her that her pet dog was “more expensive” than the worker.
The Changwon District Court on Wednesday ordered the woman, identified only as a woman in her 20s, to pay a fine of 1.5 million won (about $1,100) for insult, according to court officials.
The incident occurred in July last year at an underground parking lot in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, when a 70-year-old attendant asked the woman to turn off her car engine. In response, the woman allegedly said, “If my dog dies, will you compensate me? My dog is more expensive than you,” in front of other attendants and customers.
The attendant, angered by the remark, grabbed the woman’s wrist. The woman’s boyfriend then intervened, and a physical altercation ensued in which both sides pulled and pushed each other.
The court fined the attendant 1.5 million won for initiating the physical contact and the boyfriend 700,000 won for pushing the attendant.
In delivering the sentence, Judge Kim Se-wook said the woman had “seriously demeaned another person’s dignity by comparing her to an animal and assigning a price to human worth.” He added that her lack of remorse raised doubts about whether she truly reflected on her actions.
Jerry M. Kim (jerry_kim@koreabizwire.com)
