Concerns about knuckles, which can be easily purchased online as self-defense items, are growing as it is known that the culprit of the daytime sexual assault case that occurred on the mountain trail in Sillim-dong on the 17th used ‘knuckle’ in the crime. The police are reviewing a plan to detect carrying knuckles during a special security activity inspection and search.
A knuckle is a tool made of metal that is worn like a ring on all four fingers except for the thumb, and is a weapon that can exert the same power as striking with a hammer. For this reason, most European countries, such as the UK and Germany, regulate knuckles as weapons and prohibit their possession. In the case of the United States, only 12 of the 50 states allow possession and carrying of knuckles.
On the other hand, especially in Korea, there is a strong tendency to think of knuckles as self-defense items rather than weapons. In fact, if you search for ‘knuckle’ on an internet shopping site, most of them are described as ‘for self-defense’ or ‘self-defense goods’. Looking at product reviews, most of them said that they bought it as a self-defense item, such as ‘I bought it because my elementary school child wanted it’, ‘I think I can feel safe on a dark night’, and ‘I bought it because the world is ugly’. In addition, thanks to the low price of 2,000 ~ 10,000 won per piece, anyone can easily purchase it스포츠토토.
Police “In terms of killing power, the knuckle is a weapon”
However, with this incident as an opportunity, the police are considering a plan to consider the knuckles as a weapon and to apply charges of violation of the Violence Punishment Act to the person who wears the knuckles.
An official from the National Police Agency said to Yonhap News on the 18th, “We are judging for each specific case whether the knuckle is a weapon under the Punishment of Violence Act.” . Even if it is not a weapon such as a screwdriver or a cutting knife, but it is used for other purposes, there are many court judgments that depending on the method of use, it is a weapon under the Punishment of Violence Act.
If the knuckle is a weapon under the Punishment of Violence Act, it can be punished even if it is carried for self-defense. Since August 2005, the Supreme Court has made a judgment that ‘if a person was carrying a weapon that could be used for violent crime without a justifiable reason, the carrying of a weapon constitutes a crime in itself even if there is no other specific criminal act’. Accordingly, in June 2007, it was judged that ‘a crime is constituted even if a person was carrying a dangerous object as a means of self-rescue to protect himself and his family from gangsters who threaten his and his family’s life’.
Violent incidents using knuckles continue
Meanwhile, violent incidents using knuckles continue.
In 2021, at a middle school in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, a male student assaulted a female student with his knuckles in his hand, causing the victim to bruise his face and body and lose consciousness due to a concussion. One out of two middle school students was also arrested without detention for punching the other person while wearing knuckles. In January, in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, a teenage driver assaulted a pedestrian with his knuckles, putting the victim at risk of blindness.
On the 17th, in the case of sexual assault on a hiking trail in Sillim-dong, the perpetrator assaulted the victim while holding her knuckles in both hands, and the victim is currently unconscious.
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