Aftermath of Sindang Station Staff Murder... Legal Community Calls It a "Failure of State Responsibility"

At the entrance of the women's restroom at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, where a female attendant was killed by a coworker who had been stalking her, citizens continue to visit to pay their respects. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The legal community is expressing shock and lament over the 'Sindang Station Female Station Attendant Murder Case' that occurred on the 15th. There are also calls for the establishment of institutional measures to prevent stalking crimes and improvements in the court's detention hearings, indicating that the aftermath is likely to be significant.

Attorney Kim Jong-min pointed out on social media (SNS) on the 16th, "The Sindang Station station attendant murder case showed a complete failure of the national duty and responsibility to ensure social safety from crime." He added, "The court is not free from responsibility either. The judge who dismissed the warrant despite over 300 stalking incidents should take responsibility and resign, which is the proper attitude of a judge." A lawyer in Seocho-dong also criticized, "The suspect's detention should be considered important not only from the perspective of flight risk and evidence tampering but also the possibility of reoffending, but the judge forgot this."

These criticisms arose because the court could have prevented the murder in advance. Jeon, who killed a female public official in her 20s in the women's restroom at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2 the day before, was first reported to the police on October 7 last year. The police applied for an arrest warrant, but the Seoul Western District Court dismissed it. Jeon had already been reported twice to the police for threatening to distribute illegally filmed videos and forcing meetings while knowing the victim as a colleague who joined the company at the same time. The charges were recognized, and he was brought to trial in February and June. The two cases were consolidated, and he had been on trial without detention, with sentencing scheduled for that day. Because of this, there are continuous criticisms that if he had been on trial in detention, the tragedy could have been prevented.

The legal community is also paying attention to the Ministry of Justice's actions following this case. Minister of Justice Han Dong-hoon unusually visited Sindang Station alone after finishing work the previous evening to directly confirm the details of the case, making this more notable. At the scene, Minister Han listened to the parties involved and said, "The state failed to protect the victim," and "As Minister of Justice, I feel a deep sense of responsibility." There is a high possibility that the policies related to stalking crimes currently being promoted will accelerate. The Ministry of Justice has currently announced a partial amendment to the 'Act on the Attachment of Electronic Devices, etc.' for public comment, which would require criminals sentenced to imprisonment for stalking crimes to wear electronic monitoring devices (electronic anklets) for up to 10 years.

Meanwhile, Jeon is scheduled to undergo a pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant substantive examination) at 3 p.m. on the same day at the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Se-yong, who is in charge of warrants. The Seoul Jungbu Police Station, which investigated Jeon's case, applied for an arrest warrant for Jeon immediately the previous afternoon. Jeon's detention decision is expected to be made as early as late afternoon on the same day.

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