The South Korean presidential office says a man arrested for killing a Taiwanese woman while driving drunk in Seoul last month will face severe punishment. 

Deputy Director of the National Police Agency, Song Min-heon, relayed the top office’s stance on Monday in its official response to an online petition calling for stern punishment against the driver. 

The petition, posted by a South Korean acquaintance of the 28-year-old Taiwanese victim, argued that the driver will be handed an even more lenient punishment than car accidents that do not involve alcohol, as in many other DUI-related cases in the nation, and called on related laws to be toughened. 

Deputy Director Song denied that claim, saying that the accused will be strictly punished under the toughened “Yoon Chang-ho Law,” under which perpetrators are subject to a prison term ranging from three years to life imprisonment. 

Noting that local authorities explained the toughened law to the parents of the victim, as well as the Taipei Mission in Korea, Song also offered condolences to the bereaved family and promised the government’s efforts to root out drunk driving. 

The petition posted on November 23 has drawn more than 220-thousand signatures, meeting the requirement of 200-thousand for the top office’s response.