Man in His 30s Who Repeatedly Drove Drunk and Without a License Gave Police His Younger Brother’s ID Number When Caught

[Financial News] A driver who was caught drunk driving without a license and then claimed to be his younger brother has received a suspended prison sentence.
According to the legal community on the 29th, Single-Judge Criminal Division 11 of the Seoul Western District Court, presided over by Judge Junseo Heo, sentenced a 37-year-old man identified as A to three years in prison, suspended for five years. He had been indicted on charges including forging private documents, using forged private documents, forging private signatures, using forged private signatures, violating the Road Traffic Act (drunk driving and driving without a license), and violating the Resident Registration Act. The court also ordered him to complete 240 hours of community service and 40 hours of a lawful driving education program.
A was brought to trial on allegations that, after being stopped for drunk driving, he recited his younger brother’s resident registration number as if it were his own and signed documents using his brother’s name, thereby forging and using various documents.
According to the written judgment, in September 2024 A drove without a license for about 22 kilometers from a road near Yadang-dong in Paju City to the area around Eunpyeong District, Seoul. At the time, he was also driving under the influence, with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.125%, well above the 0.08% threshold for license revocation under the Road Traffic Act.
When he was caught in a traffic stop, A told the police officer his younger brother B’s resident registration number as though it were his own. He also signed the notification of the drunk driving test result, which had been entered into the police’s handheld terminal (PDA), as if he were B. Investigators found that he wrote B’s name and signed in the section for the driver’s statement of opinion on the report describing the circumstances of the drunk driver.
Even after that, in April 2025 A drove a passenger car without a license for about 6 kilometers in areas of Paju City and Goyang-si. In June of the same year, he was again found to have driven drunk without a license in the Paju City area, this time with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.193%.
The court stated, "When the defendant was stopped for drunk and unlicensed driving, he pretended to be his younger brother and committed violations of the Resident Registration Act as well as forgery of private documents and private signatures. Even after that, he repeated drunk and unlicensed driving without any sense of alarm." The court continued, "Given the repeated nature of the offenses, the number of violations, and the methods used, the defendant’s culpability is grave and he is highly blameworthy." The court also cited as an aggravating factor that the risk of traffic accidents from his drunk driving had materialized, causing property damage.
However, the court noted in his favor that "the defendant admits all of his offenses and is reflecting on his actions, and he is making efforts to prevent reoffending, such as receiving education on legal compliance."
425_sama@fnnews.com Reporter Choi Seung-han Reporter