Student gets dragged 50 meters by a bus + driver will likely not receive punishment

On January 30, a netizen shared a horrifying story via Daum Agora, saying that her son was dragged by a bus for 50 meters.

According to the netizen, the incident occurred on January 5, when her son was leaving hakwon (cram school) around 8PM and going home. A CCTV clip of the incident shows the son about to get on the bus when the bus doors suddenly close. The son's ankle gets stuck in the door and the CCTV clip continues to show the boy getting dragged for 50 meters.

Passengers who got off the bus saw what happened and ran after the vehicle to stop it. Although the bus driver was made aware of what happened by the passengers and stopped the bus, the boy's knees were greatly injured. The netizens son will be treated at the hospital for eight weeks and receive surgery for his injuries.

The netizen believes that the bus driver should be punished, but she states that a police officer told her that the driver will most likely not be indicted. At most, he may receive a fine of 50,000 won ($45.84 USD) as there is no law by which he can be punished seriously.

The netizen concludes her post saying, "Does this make sense? Was South Korea's laws really like this?" She explains, "I write this because I'm frustrated and I feel wronged."

Netizens were also angry to hear this news and supported the mother. Top comments include: "Ugh seriously, there are so many thoughtless people. Last time, I could have also gotten stuck in the bus doors.... This is a big issue," "They're saying 50,000 won keke. I'm so dumbfounded that I'm laughing. He injured his knees and is being hospitalized for eight weeks yet at most the [bus driver] will be charged 50,000 won.... The son is probably traumatized and will be reluctant to ride buses in the future, and [the bus driver] is only fined 50,000 won? Who's going to compensate for the mom's bitterness and the child's trauma and knee injury?" and "[The student] got on because the bus driver saw him. The bus driver was careless and didn't check the side or rear-view mirror. If he just looked at his right side mirror he would've known."