Settled
Daejeon court gives suspended jail term over break-in using interior work password
In short
A man in his 40s was given an eight-month prison term suspended for two years by the Daejeon District Court for entering a home with a door password he had learned while doing interior work there and searching for valuables. He was caught when residents returned on the night of Oct. 24 last year and took nothing, the reports said. The court said the offense was serious, while the two reports differ on whether victims still want punishment and on his earlier record.
Why it matters
The case turns on access a worker gained while doing a job at a client's home, and the court treated nighttime entry using that access as a serious offense even though nothing was stolen. Beyond Daejeon, the ruling is a routine local sentencing with no wider policy or market consequence indicated in the documents.
Key facts
- Daejeon District Court sentenced a man in his 40s, identified only as A, to eight months in prison suspended for two years on a charge of attempted nighttime residential trespass and theft. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The case was heard by the court's Criminal Division 4, presided over by Judge Lee Je-seung, which announced the ruling on Oct. 5. [ 2 , 3 ]
- A entered a home in Daejeon's Seo-gu district at around 10 p.m. on Oct. 24 last year using a door password he had learned while doing interior work at the property. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He searched for valuables inside but was discovered when a resident who had been out returned, and he took nothing. [ 2 , 3 ]
- Yonhap reported the judge said the offense was not light because A entered another person's home at night intending to steal and was caught, and cited that some victims still wanted punishment and that A had a prior criminal punishment for the same type of offense. [ 2 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo reported the judge cited that A had reflected, had reached agreement with some victims who did not want punishment, and had no record of the same type of crime since 2004. [ 3 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo gave A's age as 45. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- A man in his 40s was given an eight-month prison term suspended for two years on a charge of attempted nighttime residential trespass and theft. [ 2 , 3 ]
- The sentence was handed down by Daejeon District Court's Criminal Division 4, presided over by Judge Lee Je-seung, and announced on Oct. 5. [ 2 , 3 ]
- A entered a home in Daejeon's Seo-gu district at around 10 p.m. on Oct. 24 last year. [ 2 , 3 ]
- A learned the door password while doing interior work at the property. [ 2 , 3 ]
- He searched for valuables inside but was caught when a resident returned, so the offense remained an attempt and nothing was stolen. [ 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- Whether victims still wanted punishment Yonhap reported the judge cited that some victims still wanted punishment, while Dong-A Ilbo reported he cited agreement with some victims who did not want punishment; the two accounts conflict.
- A's prior record Yonhap said the judge considered a prior criminal punishment for the same type of offense, while Dong-A Ilbo said the judge considered that A had no same-type record since 2004; only one report supports each version.
- A's exact age Dong-A Ilbo gives his age as 45; the other reports describe him only as being in his 40s.
- Ownership of the home and the bags Dong-A Ilbo described the property as the home of landlord B and the bags as belonging to tenants, while Yonhap described the residence of B and referred to a bag inside; the details come from a single report.
What local media are saying
Business mediaBusiness-type outlets carried the case under the same headline about a password learned through interior work. Dong-A Ilbo provided the fuller account, giving the defendant's age, the judge's remarks on his reflection, agreement with some victims and the absence of a same-type record since 2004; Newsis published the headline with no readable case detail beyond it.
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Official sourcesYonhap, the official-type outlet, led with the sentence and the court's reasoning, quoting the judge on the seriousness of the nighttime entry and citing some victims' wish for punishment and a prior same-type punishment.
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