Vancouver tennis instructor killed by alleged drunk driver while visiting South Korea

The parents of a Vancouver man who died in an alleged drunk driving crash in South Korea are speaking out about the country’s laws.

Justin Beomseok Kim moved with his family from New Zealand to Canada when he was a teenager, and after living in Winnipeg and Victoria, he settled in Vancouver four years ago.

His best friend Hans Kim says Justin’s personality made the 30-year-old a very popular tennis instructor.

“He was a great extrovert. So he liked to make new friends, he liked to speak to people. He just had that instructor vibe to him,” said Kim, who added his friend also loved to travel.

Justin went to Seoul, South Korea last month for a friend’s wedding, and met a woman there. On Oct. 25, he was killed in by an alleged impaired driver.

“They actually went on a date that night the accident happened, and while both of them were crossing the crosswalk with the pedestrian green light, that’s when the drunk driver struck both of them,” said Hans Kim.

The driver who hit him—a man in his 30s who reportedly fled the scene before being caught by police—was arrested for allegedly being drunk behind the wheel.

When the news reached Hans Kim back in Canada, he was stunned.

“It almost seemed like my brain didn’t accept the fact of the accident. So I was just sitting still for half an hour without doing anything,” said Kim. “There’s a bunch of pictures on my wall right in front of my monitor, and a quarter of that space is pretty much dedicated to Justin. And I looked up and he was smiling at me.”

He says he called another close friend of Justin’s, and the two broke down in tears.

The young tennis instructor’s parents travelled from Vancouver to Seoul to plan their son’s funeral, and to ensure the driver who struck and killed Justin and seriously injured his date is charged.

“That’s the main reason that his parents are still in Korea. We don’t know how long it will take, but whatever it takes we will do for Justin,” said Kim.

A week after Justin’s death, a Japanese tourist was struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver in Seoul.

“Two of them, the victims being foreigners, just having a good time in Korea, it’s pretty frustrating,” said Kim.

Justin’s friends and family believe the laws for impaired driving causing death in Korea are too lenient. Sentences typically range from four to eight years.

“A lot of the cases, it’s seen as an accident rather than intentional crime,” said Kim, who added a stronger sentence would act as a deterrent.

“If Justin’s case could save at least one person in the future, or if it triggers someone to think twice before they go behind the wheel drunk, that would be something valuable for all of us.”