Elements of the Crime of Intimidation | Rebutting the Elements of Intimidation and Obtaining Non-Prosecution on All Five Charges Including Intimidation

■Elements of the crime of intimidation

Intimidation refers to a crime that infringes on the freedom to form one's intentions by communicating a harm capable of making a person feel fear.

The intimidation referred to here must involve the communication of a harm sufficient to cause fear in the other party.

The courts determine whether a harm has been communicated by comprehensively considering various circumstances before and after the act, such as the dispositions of the actor and the other party, the surrounding circumstances at the time of communication, the relationship and status between the actor and the other party, and the degree of their familiarity.

A person who intimidates another may be subject to imprisonment for not more than 3 years or a fine not exceeding 5 million won.

■Elements of the crime of extortion

Extortion refers to extorting a person to obtain the delivery of property or to acquire a pecuniary benefit.

The difference is that extortion gives priority to the protection of property rights compared to intimidation.

If extortion is established, the offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine not exceeding 20 million won.

■Elements of habitual assault

For habitual assault to be established, the elements of assault must first be satisfied, such as intentionally using physical force against another person's body or using power to cause pain.

In addition, such assault must occur repeatedly, and when the individual's character, environment, criminal record, and motive for the offense are considered comprehensively, a repeated tendency toward violence, that is, repetitiveness, must be recognized.

If assault is established, the offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than 2 years, a fine not exceeding 5 million won, detention, or a minor fine, and where it is habitual the punishment may be aggravated by up to one half.

■Elements of indecent act by compulsion

An indecent act by compulsion refers to a case in which an indecent act is committed against a person through assault or intimidation, and the offender is subject to imprisonment for not more than 10 years or a fine not exceeding 15 million won.

■Elements of illegal filming using a camera and its distribution

A person who, using a camera or other device with a similar function, films another person's body capable of causing sexual desire or shame against the will of the person filmed is subject to imprisonment for not more than 7 years or a fine not exceeding 50 million won.

🔗Intimidation is established only where a harm capable of causing fear is communicated to the other party.

In this matter, the client merely raised his voice and expressed his dissatisfaction emotionally, and there was no fact whatsoever of communicating a specific harm or implying any threat.

The specialized attorney demonstrated, through recordings of calls between the client and the complainant and through text messages, that the conduct did not rise to the level of intimidation.

🔗Extortion requires, as its elements, obtaining or being given a pecuniary benefit by means of intimidation.

The client had merely demanded repayment of a monetary transaction and had not made any threat or exercised any coercion to that end.

For habitual assault to be established, the acts of 🔗assault must be repeated, and the repetitiveness must be recognized through the individual's character, prior convictions, or similar factors.

The client had not engaged in any physical contact other than a single act of shaking off a hand, and the client was a first-time offender with no prior record of assault whatsoever.

The attorney in charge emphasized that the past dispute had likewise amounted to no more than a verbal argument, and pointed out that there was no evidence of any assault.

🔗The crime of forcible indecent act is established where an indecent act is committed by means of assault or intimidation.

In this case, the client merely placed a hand on the other party's shoulder in jest during a drinking gathering, which is difficult to regard as conduct that caused sexual humiliation or carried a coercive character.

Through statements from nearby witnesses, the attorney in charge emphasized that the contact did not rise to a level causing sexual intent or discomfort and amounted to no more than a momentary and minor physical touch.

In addition, the complainant claimed that the client had used a camera to film her body and thereby caused sexual humiliation.

In response, the attorney in charge rebutted that the photographs the client took were group photos taken together with several people, that all of those photographed had been notified in advance, and that the filming was not carried out with any sexual intent.

The attorney in charge submitted all of the photographs taken on the day of the incident at issue as evidence and rebutted that the complainant's claim was without merit.