Japanese Man Who Slapped Taxi Driver and Used Racial Slur in Myeong-dong Left Korea the Next Day

According to The Financial News, it was belatedly revealed that a Japanese tourist in Myeong-dong fled without paying a taxi fare, assaulted the taxi driver who tried to stop him, and then left the country the following day.

According to JTBC's "Incident Chief" on the 16th, taxi driver A, in his 50s, picked up a Japanese man and woman near Seokchon Lake in Songpa District on the night of the 5th. They had called the taxi through Uber and set Exit 3 of Myeong-dong Station as their destination. However, after arriving, they got out of the car without paying the 19,100 won fare, saying, "This isn’t my destination."
When A followed them and asked for the fare, the Japanese man, referred to as B, hurled insults at him, calling him "baka"—a Japanese word meaning "idiot"—and tried to walk away. When A grabbed the man’s collar, B mentioned the luxury brand of his clothes, as if to say they were too expensive to be touched, and then kicked A.
When A then grabbed the strap of the woman’s bag, B kicked him again and slapped him across the face. During the assault, B also used the slur "Chosenjing," a derogatory expression that demeans Koreans.
When the police arrived in response to a report, B claimed, "In Japan, if you are not taken to your destination, you don’t have to pay. In Japan, I can hit someone like this to protect my woman."
The police explained to him that "in Korea, you must follow Korean law." B then reportedly replied, "I’m Japanese, so I will follow Japanese law. I did nothing wrong and I’m not sorry," before taking 20,000 won out of his wallet and throwing it at A’s face.

A did not accept the taxi fare and instead filed a complaint against B. It later emerged that B had left the country the following morning.
According to the police, an overseas travel ban can only be requested for serious crimes punishable by death, life imprisonment, or a fixed term of at least three years in prison, so this case did not meet the criteria.
A said, "Because it was during the Seokchon Lake Cherry Blossom Festival, the fare was reasonable," adding, "I was upset to see false comments claiming I must have driven in circles to overcharge and then got beaten." He continued, "I just let myself be hit because I was worried it would turn into a controversy about mutual assault with a foreigner."
The police plan to continue investigating B without taking him into custody.

sms@fnnews.com Seong Min-seo Reporter