Kim Min Sik, a nine-year-old boy, lost his life while he was crossing the road in front of Onyang Middle School, located in Asan, Chungnam Province. His parents said Kim was an extremely cautious boy, but he was hit by a speeding car. His four-year-old brother Kim Min Hoo survived because of his brother’s protection, but because he saw his older brother’s death, he is now suffering from trauma. Kim’s parents were angry that there was no established system for the regulation of speeding and decided to fight to ensure that stricter laws were enforced.

Kim’s parents demanded that the National Assembly revise the traffic laws. They believed Kim would not have died if there had been stricter safety mechanisms in place. Therefore, they insisted that every school zone in Korea have speed cameras and traffic lights installed and that additional punishment be imposed on drivers who commit a driving offense in these areas. The so-called “Min Sik Act” was initially proposed by Kang Hoon Sik, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, on November 7, 2019. The National Assembly debated it, and the government announced the passing of the law on December 10, 2019, with it coming into force starting March 25.

The revised Traffic Safety Act for Children reflected Min Sik’s parents’ requests. If drivers are involved in a car accident that leads to the death of a child under the age of 13, they will be sentenced to prison for three years to life. If a child is injured, the driver can be imprisoned for up to 15 years or pay a fine of 5 to 30 million won. This punishment extent applies to all the accidents of children in the school zone, no matter it occurred accidentally or not.

However, right after the law came into force, a 14-year-old boy was injured in a school zone. Although this incident did not fall under the Min Sik Act because the boy was older than 13, whether the act was flawed or not became a hot topic because of this. If the boy had been under the age of 13, according to the Min Sik Act, the driver would have had to pay a hefty fine even though the driver obeyed the speed limit. After the black box video of the accident became public, some people questioned whether the law is right.

Rough Journey to Pass the Bill

Although the bill is now passed and in force, the process was not smooth. Because the Liberty Korea Party was filibustering to prevent the passage of an election law at that time, the assembly delayed the passage of the Min Sik Act. Several parents who had lost a child in a car accident protested, demanding that the party stop exploiting the act as a political trading card. In response to this, South Korean President Moon Jae In asserted, “Politicians should not use this law as a part of their negotiation strategy and should not worsen the situation.”

Several news articles and television programs informed the public about the tragedy that befell the Kim family. As public opinion regarding traffic law reformation began to gain volume, the National Assembly was pressured to pass the Min Sik Act immediately. According to a news article posted in The Hangyeoreh by Professor Hong Seung Soo (Sookmyung Women’s University), although the Min Sik Act was successfully passed, there were problems with the process. Because the bill passed the assembly’s plenary session in such a short amount of time, it is uncertain whether the articles of the act were evaluated thoroughly enough. Professor Hong said that the law should have focused more on including articles to prevent accidents.

Limitation of the New Law

Some people uploaded another national petition just a day after the law was passed, requesting a revision of the act because of the article regarding additional punishment. The Min Sik Act punishes drivers who are involved in accidents with imprisonment for three years. Chosun Media pointed out that these drivers would be punished more strictly than those convicted of rape or assault. Others pointed out that this may be violating the principle of minimal infringement found in the Korean constitution.

Professor Ha Tae-Hoon (School of Law) agreed that the act possibly violates the Korean constitution. “In some respects, the amendment has an effect of preventing crime. However, the article dictating additional punishment is against the principle of minimal infringement.” He gave an example of other Korean laws, such as homicide, wherein the criminal is sentenced to five or more years in prison. Compared to such laws, the Min Sik Act might be punishing the driver to an excessive extent. The amendment aims to punish drivers who cause the death of children ‒ intentionally or accidentally ‒ with more than three years of imprisonment.

Professor Ha insisted that parking enforcement policies and heftier speeding fines would be more useful in reducing the number of accidents in school zones. “Numerous school zone accidents occur when a child crosses the road from between parked cars. In this case, it is difficult for drivers to notice the child and stop the car.” He also argued that strengthening criminal punishment is only a post-control method, which is not sufficient to prevent accidents.

Professor Nam Seon-mo (Department of Law, Semyung University) also agreed that the Min Sik Act might violate the principle of minimal infringement. He suggested several alternative methods to protect children in school zones: installing fences along the footpath, prohibiting cars from entering school zones during the school commuting times, and controlling parking and stopping in school zones. These would be much more useful for reducing the number of car accidents. However, Professor Nam was against expanding the installation of surveillance cameras since they were not cost-effective.

The recent amendment to road traffic laws seems to protect children by strengthening punishment for school zone accidents. However, public opinion is divided, and two different national petitions with opposing requests have been posted. The National Assembly should re-evaluate the amendment both to protect children in school zones and to punish drivers who violate traffic laws to an appropriate extent.