ULSAN — A taxi driver in his 50s who gained a following by installing karaoke equipment in his cab and streaming live broadcasts has been given a lengthy prison term for trying to kill a younger colleague with a knife.
The Ulsan District Court's 12th criminal division, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Young-je, said on the 16th that it sentenced the man, identified only as A, to six years in prison on charges including attempted murder and aggravated intimidation. The court also ordered him to wear an electronic monitoring device for 10 years.
Prosecutors said A stabbed a junior taxi driver in his 20s, identified as B, several times in the neck and abdomen on a road in front of his home in Ulsan's Nam district late at night in late April this year.
While another junior driver at the scene, identified as C, restrained A, the wounded B fled into a car parked nearby and locked the doors. A then pulled at the locked door handle and struck the car window more than 10 times with the knife while threatening to kill B. The attack ended when police, responding to a report, arrested him on the spot.
Investigators found that A had become known as the operator of a "club taxi," equipping his cab with karaoke gear and lighting and running a personal broadcast in which he chatted with passengers.
About two weeks before the attack, A picked up two female students who were acquaintances of B, and later heard rumors that he had sexually harassed them. A suspected B of spreading the rumors and contacted him to ask what had happened, but B repeatedly avoided him, and A carried out the attack out of resentment, investigators said.
The court said the victim suffered serious physical injuries and considerable psychological shock, and that the defendant had not been forgiven by the victim.
At the same time, the court said it took into account that the defendant admitted to the crime and showed remorse, and that the killing had fortunately been attempted rather than completed.
