A South Korean factory owner has been sentenced to three years in prison for seriously injuring a Thai worker with a compressed-air gun earlier this year. The court rejected the employer’s claim that the incident was a prank and criticised his treatment of the injured worker.
The Suwon District Court delivered the ruling yesterday, October 15, convicting the owner of a metal-cleaning factory in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, of aggravated bodily injury and violations of South Korea’s Labour Standards Act.
The defendant, a man in his 60s whose identity was withheld, attacked a Thai employee in his 40s on February 20 using an industrial compressed-air gun.
According to Yonhap News Agency, the court found that the employer deliberately directed high-pressure air into the worker’s rectum for approximately seven seconds, causing a perforation measuring about 10 centimetres. The victim required emergency surgery.
During the trial, the employer denied deliberately injuring the worker, maintaining that the incident was an accident or a prank.
However, Judge Koo Na-young rejected his explanation, citing the victim’s consistent testimony and medical evidence. The court found that the employer continued the air gun attack despite the worker complaining of pain.
The judge also criticised the employer for allegedly laughing while the worker was suffering and attempting to persuade him to return to Thailand rather than receive further medical treatment.
The court found that the employer had deducted medical expenses from the worker’s wages and had also assaulted other foreign employees while claiming to be joking.
Although the employer reached a settlement with the victim, who no longer wished to pursue punishment, the judge concluded that he had shown insufficient remorse. Prosecutors had sought a seven-year prison sentence.
The court also dismissed an intimidation case against the employer’s wife, who had been accused of threatening to report the worker to immigration officials. The case was dismissed because the victim did not wish to pursue punishment, rather than because she was acquitted.
The incident first came to public attention in April, prompting a police investigation and a search of the factory. The three-year sentence marks the latest development in the case.
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- Lao worker says employers beat, confined her for over 6 hours
- Bangkok employer offers reward for arrest of new hire who stole 400k baht
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