A former prosecutor, who was sentenced by a Seoul district court to 10 months in prison, suspended for two years, after being convicted of repeated drunk driving, drew the same sentence from an appeals court Tuesday.

The former prosecutor of the Seoul High Prosecutors Office, identified only as Kim, was indicted in March 2019 for scratching another car while parking his car under the influence of alcohol at his apartment complex in southern Seoul two months earlier.

Kim ignored protests from the victim and was arrested by police at his home later after refusing to blow into a breathalyzer. His blood alcohol level was 0.264 percent, high enough to have his license revoked.

Kim, who was already punished twice for drunk driving offenses, was dismissed from his post by a prosecution disciplinary committee in April that year.

The Seoul Central District Court's appellate division, upholding a lower court's suspended prison sentence for Kim, said the defendant is very likely to be strongly reproached for committing a third drunk driving offense despite his status as a public prosecutor. (Yonhap)