"'Hwaseong Serial Murders' Lee Chun-jae to Appear in Court Tomorrow... Court Prohibits Photography"

Hwaseong Serial Murder True Culprit Lee Chun-jae

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Eun-young] Lee Chun-jae (57), revealed as the true culprit of the Hwaseong serial murders, will appear in court as a witness for the 8th case that occurred in 1988, showing his current appearance after 32 years. The Criminal Division 12 of Suwon District Court (Chief Judge Park Jeong-je) did not permit media requests for photos and video recordings of Lee.

Two days later, Lee Chun-jae, who was belatedly identified as the true culprit of the Hwaseong serial murders, was selected as a witness for the retrial of the 8th case and will appear at Suwon District Court. The 8th case involved the sexual assault and death of 13-year-old Park in Taean-eup, Hwaseong-gun, in September 1988.

Yoon Seong-yeo (53), who was arrested as the suspect at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment for this case and was paroled in 2009 after serving 20 years.

On the morning of May 19th, Yoon Mo, the petitioner for retrial, attended the first retrial hearing of the 8th serial murder case of Lee Chun-jae at the Suwon District Court in Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do. [Image source=Yonhap News]

However, after Lee Chun-jae later confessed that the 8th case was his crime, Yoon filed for a retrial in court last November. It is known that Lee expressed his willingness to appear in court and testify as the true culprit, conveying his apology to Yoon, who applied for the retrial during the investigation process.

Currently incarcerated at Busan Prison, Lee will stand as a witness in court at the request of the prosecution and defense. However, the court stated regarding media requests for photos and filming, "Since Lee Chun-jae is appearing as a witness, not a defendant, and witnesses come to the witness stand after the trial begins, filming cannot be permitted under relevant regulations, and it is also inappropriate from the perspective of maintaining order."

Nonetheless, considering the high social interest in this case, the court plans to allow public attendance by lottery and install cameras that show the courtroom and witness stand so that the trial proceedings can be viewed from another courtroom.

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