"Only the Death Penalty is a Chance for Atonement" Electronic Bracelet Murderer Kang Yoon-sung's Prison Letter... Lee Soo-jung Calls it "Self-Glorification"

Kang Yoon-sung "Last Chance to Apologize to the Bereaved Families"
Professor Lee Soo-jung "An Extension of Self-Display and Antisocial Thinking"

Letter sent by Kang Yoon-sung to his lawyer (right) / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] Kang Yoon-seong (56), who was indicted for damaging an electronic ankle bracelet and consecutively murdering two women, reportedly sent a letter to his lawyer asking them to stop representing him.

According to Yonhap News on the 13th, Kang sent a letter to his lawyer around last month’s Chuseok holiday saying, "You no longer need to visit me," and added, "Only a death sentence can be the last chance to sincerely apologize, even if just a little, to the bereaved families."

He wrote, "This serious criminal is not living because he is okay, but only enduring because he cannot take his own life," and signed it as "Death row inmate Kang Yoon-seong, who is facing a death that should never have been born even as an orphan in this world."

However, according to Kyunghyang Shinmun, Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University said it is difficult to view Kang’s behavior as a genuine attitude of remorse.

Professor Lee explained, "It is a typical display of self-promotion and can be seen as an extension of antisocial thinking. Didn’t Kang also assault police officers in the detention center? Saying to his lawyer to 'defend for the victims' is very inappropriate and rather reflects an 'excessive sense of pride.'"

Earlier, on August 26, Kang murdered a woman in her 40s at his home in Songpa-gu, Seoul, and the next afternoon, after cutting off his electronic ankle bracelet and fleeing, he murdered a woman in her 50s in a parking lot in Songpa-gu. He later surrendered at a police station and stated that the motive for the crimes was "a financial relationship."

At that time, the prosecution judged that Kang’s sense of victimization and anger toward the law and social system, as well as his antisocial personality disorder (psychopathy) tendencies, influenced the crimes. In fact, in a psychopathy (antisocial personality disorder) test conducted by the police, Kang scored "over 30 points," marking the second highest level among criminals in history.

Meanwhile, on the 24th of last month, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Lee Gon-ho) applied seven charges against Kang, including robbery-murder, murder, fraud, violation of the Telecommunications Business Act, violation of the Specialized Credit Finance Business Act, violation of the Act on Electronic Monitoring Devices, and obstruction of official duties, and formally indicted him in custody. Kang’s first trial will be held on the 14th at the Seoul Eastern District Court.

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