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[CRIME] · South Korea · 7 sources

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South Korean Supreme Court rules breathalyzer results invalid without water rinse

Supreme Court of South Korea drunk driving breathalyzer procedure Road Traffic Act legal evidence

The Supreme Court of South Korea has ruled that blood alcohol concentration (BAC) test results cannot be used as evidence of guilt if police fail to provide water for the driver to rinse their mouth before the test.

The case involved a driver charged with drunk driving in Sejong City in December 2023, who recorded a BAC of 0.081%. The driver argued that the lack of water led to an artificially inflated reading. While lower courts initially dismissed the claim—viewing the water provision as a mere internal police guideline and noting that 20 minutes had passed since drinking—the Supreme Court overturned these decisions.

The high court clarified that since July 2023, the requirement to provide water for rinsing has been explicitly stated in the Enforcement Rules of the Road Traffic Act, giving it legal binding force rather than being a simple internal guideline. The court also noted that scientific studies suggesting oral alcohol dissipates after 20 minutes often exclude variables like burping or hiccups, meaning the risk of inaccurate readings remains in real-world enforcement scenarios.

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Daejeon District Court · Sejong City · Supreme Court of South Korea

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