Supreme Court Confirms Life Sentence for 50s Chinese-Korean in 'Daerim-dong Man and Woman Murder' Case

Supreme Court Grand Bench.
Photo by Supreme Court

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] A 50-year-old Chinese Korean who brutally murdered his ex-girlfriend and her common-law spouse with a weapon on the streets of Daerim-dong, Seoul, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Park Jeong-hwa) announced on the 12th that it dismissed both the appeals of the defendant, Chinese Korean Park (55), who was charged with murder, and the prosecution, thereby upholding the original life sentence.

Yoon (57), a senior from Park’s hometown who assaulted the male victim who collapsed after being stabbed by Park, was sentenced to two years in prison, a sentence that was also finalized.

The court stated, "Considering various factors relevant to sentencing, including the defendant’s age, character, environment, relationship with the victims, motives, methods and results of each crime, and circumstances after the crime, even taking into account the mitigating circumstances argued in the appeal, it cannot be said that the original life sentence imposed on the defendant was excessively unfair."

Park was indicted for stabbing and killing his ex-girlfriend A (49 at the time of the incident) and B (51 at the time of the incident), who was cohabiting with A, with a weapon in an alley in Daerim-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, around 8 p.m. on January 22 last year.

Park had been in a romantic relationship with A for about a year starting in May 2017 but broke up. After unexpectedly meeting A in December 2020, he repeatedly threatened her, demanding to resume their relationship.

On the evening of January 22 last year, Park visited the bar where A worked. After A told him, "I will forever consider you a stranger," Park got into an argument with B, who was present, and decided to kill both of them.

Park went to his home about a 10-minute walk away, took a kitchen knife, and returned to find A. During an argument on the road near the bar, when B hit Park’s head with a soju bottle, Park took out the kitchen knife hidden inside his jacket and stabbed both multiple times, killing them.

Immediately after the crime, Park took a taxi away from the scene, drank until around 5 a.m. the next day, slept at his maternal aunt’s house, then hid at his cousin’s older sister’s house before being urgently arrested.

Both the first and second trials sentenced Park to life imprisonment.

The second trial court stated, "The method and means of the crime were extremely cruel, such as stabbing the victims again while they were lying on the street. Especially for victim A, who had been continuously harassed and threatened with death by the defendant before ultimately losing her life, the anger and pain must have been even greater. The mental shock and suffering experienced by the bereaved family are truly indescribable."

It added, "Furthermore, the crime, which involved brutally killing two people with a kitchen knife on a busy street with frequent vehicle traffic and pedestrians watching, was widely reported, and the crime scene footage was also released, causing severe public anxiety. The harm the defendant caused to our society is also significant."

The court also noted, "Nevertheless, the defendant showed a disregard for life, stating to investigators, 'What’s the point if the life is only barely hanging on? If you kill, you have to kill completely.' It is necessary to permanently isolate the defendant from society to protect the safety of our community members and to ensure that the defendant lives with a lifelong sense of repentance," explaining the sentencing rationale.

Park, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial, claimed in the appeal that he was intoxicated and mentally impaired at the time of the crime, but this was not accepted.

The second trial court also dismissed the prosecution’s appeal requesting the death penalty, arguing that the life sentence was too light. The court reasoned, "Although the crime was extremely cruel and there are no mitigating circumstances for the motive, the defendant has no prior criminal record except for a single fine, admits all charges, and has shown remorse by apologizing to the bereaved family. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that there is no possibility of rehabilitation or reform."

Yoon, who was charged with grabbing a beer bottle from B during their fight, hitting B’s head once, and kicking B’s abdomen once after B was stabbed by Park and collapsed, was sentenced to two years in prison in both the first and second trials.

The prosecution argued in the appeal that Yoon’s sentence was too light, but the court dismissed the appeal, stating that Yoon committed the crime with the intention of helping Park and appeared unaware that B had been stabbed by a knife at the time.

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