A son in his 40s was sentenced to six months in prison for allegedly leaving his father's corpse unattended for over two weeks in the living room.
The Busan District Court's Criminal Division 17 (Judge Mok Myeong-kyun) announced on the 29th that it sentenced Mr. A to six months in prison for the charge of concealing a corpse.
Mr. A was indicted for leaving the corpse of his father, Mr. B, who is presumed to have died in the living room of their home in Yeongdo District, Busan, between November 30 and December 20 of last year, until January 3 of this year.
The time and place of Mr. B's death and the duration of over two weeks during which the corpse was left unattended were estimated based on call records and the coroner's opinion.
The two had lived together for over 30 years since March 1994. However, the death of Mr. B and the neglect of the corpse came to light when police officers, dispatched after a neighbor's report on January 3 of this year, checked the scene.
Mr. A asserted during the trial that he did not deliberately leave the corpse unattended because he was aware of his father's death when the police officers arrived at the house.
However, the court deemed him guilty, noting that on January 2, the day before the police were dispatched, a neighbor who was close to Mr. B visited the house, and Mr. A sent them away, saying, 'Come back next time,' while a foul odor had been emanating from the house.
Mr. A is reportedly known to have symptoms of a mental disorder.