A group of people in their 20s, who were previously sentenced to serve between two to seven years in prison for luring teenagers into sex work, have been given additional prison terms for physically abusing their friends.

The Chuncheon District Court on Monday sentenced the three main convicts -- all in their mid-20s -- to between 26 months and 32 months in additional time for breaching the so-called "punishment of violences act."

Seven other offenders, who allegedly tracked down and brutally beat up anyone who tried to escape from the group, were sentenced to between 8 months to 22 months of extra time in prison.

In June 2021, the offenders allegedly lured their friends to a road in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province, where they forced them to get into a car. The perpetrators then proceeded to physically assault the victims. The indictment stated that some offenders had told the victims to “lick if you want to live,” hitting them with their hands while the victims were forced to lick drool off the floor.

The main ringleader behind the crimes was sent to trial on charges of assault. The offender allegedly demanded the victims to kneel, causing severe damage to them by hitting their thighs with an iron pipe, supposedly as punishment for trying to escape.

The ringleader's legal representative flatly denied all charges against their client during the trials, claiming that the offender did not order such physical abuse to others and was never a leader of the group.

Ignoring the claims argued by the defendant, the judge ruled that there was clearly a hierarchical system within the group, where the offender in question was the de-facto leader. The court also judged that the offences, including making profits through adolescent prostitution, using location tracker apps to find their friends, and using physical force to coerce and injure their victims, were very serious.

The court handed out lighter penalties for other offenders, taking into consideration that not only had they now left the group, but that they were likely acting under the command and coercion of the main ringleader.