Man fined for slapping woman for smoking

A man in his 50s has been fined for assaulting a woman who was smoking in the street.

Judge Jang Min-ju, presiding over Daejeon District Court’s 11th criminal chamber, fined the man of 700,000 ($498), local media reports on Monday.

The man hit the 22-year-old woman on her back at midnight on April 29 while she was smoking in front of a shop in Daeduk-gu, Daejeon.

During the police investigation, he reportedly said “How could a girl smoke?” and that he was angry about smoking near his children.

He said during the trial that it was not an assault, as he intended to discipline the woman in a public place. The judge did not accept the argument.

Instead, the court saw the action as an assault based on CCTV footage showing the scene and witnesses’ testaments.

The fact that the assault was relatively minor and he had no other convictions were considered mitigating factors, the court explained.