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After the incident of Mr. Yoon Chang-ho, who died in a car driven by a drunken driver four years ago, the Constitutional Court decided that the revised road traffic law, 'Yun Chang-ho Act,' was rushed by the National Assembly.



Following last year, the key provisions of this law were judged unconstitutional one after another, effectively making the law ineffective. Reporter Hong Young-jae reports the details.



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Yoon Chang-ho, a 22-year-old soldier who went on vacation in September 2018, was hit by a drunk car and died while waiting for a crosswalk signal.



Public outrage arose, and the National Assembly passed the so-called 'Yun Chang-ho Act', which strengthened the penalties for drunk driving within three months.



If you violate the prohibition of drunk driving or refusal of breathalyzer test two or more times, either individually or in combination, you will be sentenced to between two and five years in prison or a fine of up to 20 million won.



The Constitutional Court ruled that this provision in the Road Traffic Act was unconstitutional in a 7-2 opinion of the judges.



The opinion that it is difficult to recognize the proportionality between responsibility and punishment, as there is no provision for a period between past violations and recidivism. These seven took the majority.



Only two judges found the constitutional opinion that repeated drunk driving and refusal to take a breathalyzer could be condemned, so that punishment could be aggravated.



As a result, only the Act to Strengthen Punishment for Drunk Driving Death Accidents remains, and the Yoon Chang-ho Act, which strengthened the punishment for drunk driving itself to prevent accidents, has virtually lost its effect.



[Yoon Ki-hyeon / late Yoon Chang-ho's father: By making such an unconstitutional judgment, it is not giving a signal that is a little harmless, a signal that is too generous about drunk driving...

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In November of last year, similar provisions of the Yun Chang-ho Act were already ruled unconstitutional, but the National Assembly did not even make supplementary legislation.



Criticism of making the law unconstitutional by making the provisions of the law unavoidable cannot be avoided.



(Video coverage: Seol Min-hwan, video editing: Kim Gyeong-yeon, CG: Hong Seong-yong, Eom So-min)