A 24-year-old man who assaulted a female convenience store clerk in the southeastern city of Jinju last year, calling her a “feminist” due to her short hair, has been sentenced to three years in prison in his appeal trial.
The court recognized the attack as a “misogynistic crime,” marking the first time in South Korea that misogyny was acknowledged as a motive in a criminal ruling. The victim, who lost her hearing due to the attack, expressed relief at the “meaningful ruling.”
The Changwon District Court’s criminal division upheld Wednesday the original three-year sentence for the attacker, 24, citing “groundless hatred toward women” as the motive behind the crime.
The incident occurred in April last year, when the 24-year-old assaulted a female part-time worker at a convenience store in Jinju, South Gyeongsang Province, because of her short hairstyle, calling her a “feminist.”
Googling about sentencing for assault I found this “A person who uses violence against another shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than two years, a fine not exceeding 5 million won, detention, or a minor fine.”
So in that context 3 years being a 50% increase over the otherwise 2 year maximum seems fair enough to me.
This isn’t just simple assault, it’s also battery on the level of severity of causing permanent disability. The sentence goes up to 10 years for more severe assault and battery: https://www.thekoreanlawblog.com/2023/01/sentence-korean-crime-korea.html . Based on what they say there, this guy probably received closer to the minimum sentence.