The man drove on for about 300 meters before turning around and returning to a spot 50 meters away from the accident.

There he called his father, 58, who arrived 1 1/2 hours later to help collect the broken shards of the car’s front bumper from the streets in an attempt to eliminate evidence. The two also replaced the shattered bumper.

The police arrested the duo based on surveillance camera footage.

According to the police, the father had initially denied charges but later confessed that he had “turned into a bad example of a father out of fear that his son would be punished.”

The police said the son’s driver’s license has been canceled and that he will not be able to reapply for one for the next four years.

As for the father, although his actions appear socially condemnable, the police said he was released as article 115 of Korean criminal law states that crimes committed out of responsibility to family members are not punishable by man-made law.

In the investigation, the police found out that the son, three months after the hit-and-run accident, was involved in another accident while drunk driving.

The police are currently questioning whether the man was also drunk on the night of the hit-and-run accident.

By Lim Jeong-yeo (kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)