Police face prosecutors` probe over death of drunken man

SEOUL, May 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's human rights watchdog said Thursday that
it will petition prosecutors for an investigation into two police officers
accused of negligence in the choking death of a Mokpo man in late April.
Last month, the 43-year-old man, identified only by his surname Kim, was
apprehended by police on suspicion of violent behavior while under the influence
of alcohol and was moved to a police center in Mokpo, 410 kilometers south of
Seoul. Police bound the man's hands together and gagged him with a towel after he
made repeated protests demanding the handcuffs be removed.
He eventually went into coma and was moved to a hospital where he died of a
cerebral infarction several days later.
The state's Human Rights Commission launched an investigation into the case on
April 23 and concluded that the police officers overstepped their authority.
"Police officers stuffed Kim's mouth with a towel for over three minutes. That
was dangerous," the National Human Rights Commission said in a statement.
"Kim might still be alive if the officers attempted to perform artificial
respiration after he fell unconscious. But they did not do anything until an
ambulance arrived five minutes later."
The commission also asked the head of a local police agency in Mokpo to come up
with measures to prevent similar incidents in the future and to promote human
rights education for police officers.
brk@yna.co.kr
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