Law Times | Journalist Park Sooyeon
https://www.lawtimes.co.kr/news/203007
Choi Bomin, who suffered facial fractures caused by another person’s swinging golf club at a golf practice range, has confirmed to win in a compensation lawsuit.
Judge Yoon Sohee of the Seoul Western District Court ruled on the 15th of last month in a damages claim filed by Choi (represented by attorney Kim Gunwoo) against A, who swung the golf club, and B, the operator of the golf practice range. The court ordered, “B must pay Choi approximately 12 M KRW, of which about 10.6 M KRW is to be paid jointly with A.” This ruling has been finalized.
In September 2022, Choi was practicing golf at a golf practice range located in Gyeonggi Province. Choi had stepped up to the booth and was operating the kiosk when an accident occurred, where A, practicing a swing motion in the front booth, hit Choi’s face with the golf club. As a result of this accident, Choi sustained injuries, including a right zygomaticomaxillary complex fracture, and had to suspend his activities. The distance between the practice booths was 2.5 meters.
Judge Yoon stated, "The operator of the golf practice range has a duty of care to provide safe facilities that pose no danger when used by customers by providing booths and related facilities," and explained, "According to the enforcement regulations of the Act on the Installation and Use of Sports Facilities, in the case of a golf practice range, the spacing between booths must be at least 2.5 meters, and sufficient space must be available around the booths to prevent the golf clubs being swung by users from hitting walls, ceilings, or other facilities. Additionally, nets or protective barriers must be installed to prevent safety accidents caused by balls during practice."
She continued, "Although the practice range meets the spacing standard for booths, no partitions or boundary facilities such as safety structures have been installed between the booths. Particularly, since the kiosk is located very close to the adjacent booth, when approaching to operate the kiosk, the person enters the swing radius of the user practicing in the adjacent booth, thereby creating a high possibility of suffering serious injury from the golf club. As B violated the duty of care to ensure the safety of users while managing and operating the practice range, and this led to the accident, B bears liability for breach of contract due to incomplete performance of the public sports facility use contract," he stated.
Additionally, "A, who had been using the practice range, had previously struck the hat of a person behind them who was operating the kiosk while swinging, so it can be presumed that A was aware that the spacing between the booths at the practice range was insufficient to prevent safety accidents. A swung from a position not at the center but slightly to the rear of the booth. Considering this, A could have sufficiently anticipated that a person in the booth behind them might be hit by the golf club. Therefore, A is recognized as having been negligent in their duty to look around thoroughly before swinging and to perform the swing in a safe manner," he judged.
However, Judge Yoon acknowledged that Choi also at fault for not taking sufficient measures to prevent the safety accident and limited A's liability to 30%. He stated that Choi, knowing A was preparing to practice, could have anticipated, based on the booth spacing and kiosk location, that they might be hit by the golf club when A swung. Yet, Choi did not take preventative measures, such as keeping watch on the person in the adjacent booth.
Judge Yoon acknowledged a total of approximately 2 M KRW in past medical expenses and 10 M KRW in compensation for pain and suffering as the damages amount for Choi. However, regarding Choi's claim that he suffered losses of approximately 35 M KRW due to being unable to participate in 12 contracts during his treatment and recovery period as a celebrity, the judge stated, "This is considered special damages, and there is no evidence to show that A or B knew or could have known such circumstances, so it is difficult to see a causal link to the accident," and did not accept the claim.
-That person smashed the face of an idol... He's someone who literally lives off his face.
-He's fine now. He's filming a movie and attending schedules again.
-I liked Golden Child, but I had no idea about this accident at all...
-Am I the only one who just now learned that Choi Bomin left Golden Child?
-Oh... That must've hurtㅠㅠㅠ He's a celebrity... Why did it have to be his face of all thingsㅠㅠㅠㅠ
-Even just reading the article makes my face tingle. It must've been incredibly painful.
-He couldn't work because of this accident and all he got was that little compensation...?
-Whoa;; It's such a relief that he's okay now... But getting hit in the face with a golf club?!
-Oh my goodness...
-I remember seeing people commenting that his face had changed and asking why he got plastic surgery back then...ㅠㅠ I'm just hearing about this now;;; It must've been really upsetting.
-I'm glad he's okay now... I can't even imagine how painful it must've been.
-Whoa... Golf clubs are really dangerous. Isn't that compensation way too little considering the damages he suffered from? He even had to take time off work too.
-Face is the most valuable asset for a celebrity, though...
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