Assault Punishment

[Anchor Lead]

Recently, a group of drunken teenagers assaulted a security guard in his 70s in Gyeonggi-do Province. In another incident, a resident threatened a guard with a deadly weapon. There is a law meting out heavier punishment for those who assault socially vulnerable people, but the reality is that they're not fully protected.

[Pkg]

A man enters an apartment management office with a deadly weapon. A security guard had received a noise complaint and had asked the resident to quiet down. That's what drove him to wield an ax. This man was cussing at a security guard before kicking the glass door and shattering it. A security guard surnamed Kim was hit twice in the chest by a resident for no reason while he was sweeping the grounds. The guard asked the police for leniency,so the assailant was released, but he continued to threaten the guard.

[Soundbite] Mr. Kim(Security Guard(Voice Modified)) : "He beat me, calling me an old and rude 'curse word'. A few days ago, he struck my window when I was eating."

In the past five years, assaults by residents of leased apartments against security guards nationwide amounted to more than 4,000. There were also many cases of threats with deadly weapons or self-injuries, not to mention drunken verbal assaults or violence. A survey found that four out of ten private apartment security guards were subjected to verbal abuses. Most of the security guards are in their 60s and older. They are in a bind, since they are employed as contractors and can lose their jobs easily and can't demand tough punishments for their assailants, who also happen to be apartment residents they see everyday.

[Soundbite] Rep. Park Wan-su(Nat'l Assembly's Land, Infrastructure, and Transport Committee) : "Punishment has been toughened but it hasn't been eradicated. Social awareness on the rights of the socially vulnerable population should be further heightened."

In Hong Kong, residents of leased housing are subject to a demerit system and may even get evicted. Also urgent are such measures as supplying protective gear or oversight by the local government bodies.