Jeju Meditation Center Director Sentenced to 3 Years for Giving Sugar Water to Corpse

Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kang Juhee] The director of a meditation training center in Jeju was sentenced to prison for long-term concealment of the body of a man in his 50s who lost consciousness and died during training.

The Jeju District Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Jang Chansu) announced on the 27th that it sentenced Hong Mo (59), the director of the meditation training center, to three years in prison on charges of neglect resulting in death and concealment of a corpse.

The court explained, "For the charge of neglect resulting in death to be recognized, the deceased must have been alive at the time of discovery, but the analysis by the National Forensic Service could not determine whether the deceased was alive," adding, "Due to the nature of criminal trials, the defendant's charges were not proven beyond a reasonable doubt, so the charge of neglect resulting in death was judged as not guilty."

However, regarding the charge of concealment of a corpse, the court stated, "The defendant is not a saint of the three major religions. It is not acceptable to believe the defendant's claim that he thought the deceased was alive based on common sense," adding, "Such a baseless claim can only be seen as misleading, depriving the deceased of the opportunity to be mourned."

Furthermore, the court explained the sentencing reason, saying, "The victim's body was left to the extent that maggots appeared, and the condition was miserable. The bereaved family was prevented from seeing the body, and there was no respect for mourning."

Hong was arrested and indicted on charges of causing death by neglect for failing to provide immediate aid when A (57), who was training at the meditation center he directed in Jeju City, lost consciousness on the evening of September 1 last year, resulting in death. He is also charged with hiding the body for 45 days, claiming he would perform a miracle to revive A.

A visited the training center on August 30 last year but was found to have died on the evening of September 1 for unknown reasons.

A’s body was discovered around 3 p.m. on October 15 last year by police who responded to a report from A’s wife and found it in the training room within the center. An autopsy confirmed that A died of cardiac arrest.

At the scene, syringes, oriental medicine needles, ethanol, and other items used to manage the decomposing body were found.

In particular, it was confirmed that Hong performed irrational acts such as giving sugar water to the deceased A and washing the body with ethanol.

Hong denied the charges, stating, "At that time, I believed A was not dead but in a meditative state, and I tried to perform a miracle to revive him."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.