A South Korean court has reduced legal fees for a family seeking to appeal a 2021 Incheon stabbing case in which two police officers were accused of leaving the victims defenseless.
The Incheon District Court partially granted the family's request for litigation aid, reducing the amount they must pay for the appellate trial from about 6 million won to 700,000 won ($4,300 to $490).
The family was awarded 350 million won in compensation from the state and the defendants in a June 19 first-instance ruling. The plaintiffs, who had reportedly sought more than 2 billion won in compensation, appealed the ruling, as did the two defendants.
The family said financial difficulties made it hard for them to shoulder the costs of the appeal.
The case stems from a stabbing in Incheon on Nov. 15, 2021, in which a man in his 50s seriously injured a woman in her 40s and inflicted minor injuries on her husband and daughter.
Two police officers dispatched to the scene failed to intervene and left the area as the attack unfolded. They were later indicted on charges of abandoning their duties.
Both officers received suspended prison terms and were dismissed from the police. The assailant was sentenced to 22 years in prison, a sentence upheld by the Supreme Court in 2023.
The plaintiffs said they have faced continued financial difficulties since the attack, particularly after the wife was left with permanent disabilities following brain surgery.
The daughter, who was in her 20s at the time of the attack, has also struggled with alcoholism and withdrawn from social contact because of a permanent scar on her face, according to reports.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com