This photo, provided by Yonhap News TV, shows an emergency smartwatch provided to victims of stalking crimes, which allows instant connection to police.
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — Amid controversy over a court ruling that an individual making persistent phone calls cannot be punished by anti-stalking law if the calls are not answered, a recent court decision found the defendant guilty in a similar case.
Incheon District Court on Tuesday sentenced a 42-year-old man charged with violating the Act on the Punishment of Stalking Crimes to one year in jail and 40 hours of therapy.
The man called his ex-partner 29 times and sent 33 text messages between Aug. 11 and Sept. 27.
The woman did not answer 12 of his calls and another nine calls were blocked.
The court ruled that, instead of the information communication network, the perpetrator used a phone to deliver his voice and texts to deliver his letters (including a cellphone number) to the victim, which amounts to an act of stalking.
This ruling goes against the previous court decision that persistent phone calls, if unanswered, cannot result in punishment under the anti-stalking act.
“Court decisions on the same crime should not differ by which judge you go to,” attorney Seo Hye-jin said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
