Not a Psychopath... 'Cruel Criminal' Jeon Joo-hwan

No Psychopathic Traits Seen in Terms of Relational Crimes
Brutal and Horrific Acts... Blaming the Victim
Expert on Jeon’s Statement "I Really Did a Crazy Thing": "Feels Like an Empty Shell"

Suspect Jeon Juhwan in the 'Sindang Station Stalking Murder' case is being transferred from the Namdaemun Police Station detention center in Jung-gu, Seoul to the prosecution on the 21st. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] Jeon Ju-hwan (31, in custody), who killed a woman after stalking her, has been analyzed as not having psychopathic tendencies. Among citizens, there is surprise that Jeon Ju-hwan, who committed a brutal crime, is not a psychopath. Experts emphasize that it is simply not possible to determine psychopathy based on the nature of the crime and stress that it was a horrific crime.

Jeon Ju-hwan is known to have expressed resentment by directly referring to the victim. Jeon, who was on trial for violating the Stalking Punishment Act and the Sexual Violence Punishment Act (using cameras for filming, threatening with filmed materials, etc.), was sentenced to 9 years in prison at the sentencing hearing on the 18th of last month. Then, around 9 p.m. on the 14th, he killed the victim with a weapon inside the restroom at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2.

In his police statement, he reportedly said, "My life is ruined because of the trial, because of the victim." It appears that after being prosecuted for stalking charges against the victim, who was a colleague at Seoul Metro, and receiving a 9-year sentence, he decided to commit murder. The police judged that Jeon Ju-hwan does not show psychopathic tendencies because stalking crimes are relational crimes.

Regarding Jeon Ju-hwan's statement, an expert pointed out that he is shifting responsibility by blaming the victim for his crime. Professor Lee Soo-jung of the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University criticized on CBS Radio's 'Park Jae-hong's One-on-One Match' on the 21st, saying, "He deliberately and rationally held a grudge and killed someone with cold judgment," and added, "Ultimately blaming the victim is very inappropriate and regrettable." She also described Jeon Ju-hwan's remark, "I really did something crazy," as feeling like "an empty shell."

Jeon Juhwan, the suspect in the 'Sindang Station Stalking Murder' case, is being transferred from the Namdaemun Police Station detention center in Jung-gu, Seoul, to the prosecution on the 21st. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

Regarding the view that psychopathic tendencies do not seem to be present, Professor Oh Yoon-sung of Soonchunhyang University's Department of Police Administration explained, "It is difficult to define everyone who commits brutal crimes as psychopaths," and added, "Psychopaths and stalkers are difficult to coexist."

As Professor Oh analyzed, Kim Tae-hyun, who killed three mothers and daughters in an apartment in Nowon-gu, Seoul, in March last year, was also found not to be a psychopath. Well-known criminals identified as psychopaths include serial killers Yoo Young-chul, Jung Nam-gyu, Lee Chun-jae, and Kang Ho-soon. Additionally, 'Fang Daddy' Lee Young-hak and child sex offender Cho Doo-soon were also identified as psychopaths, and the 'Valley Murder' criminal Lee Eun-hae scored 31 points on related tests, higher than Kang Ho-soon (27 points). Psychopathic traits include excessive confidence, fluent lying, and cunning deception.

It was analyzed that behind Jeon Ju-hwan's stalking crime, "there may be problems with attachment relationships." Regarding Jeon Ju-hwan's statement that it was "because of the victim," it was emphasized that "(shifting responsibility for one's criminal acts) onto others is a characteristic of criminals."

Meanwhile, Kim Sang-beom, president of Seoul Metro, visited the memorial altar at Sindang Station, where the stalking revenge murder occurred, around 11 a.m. on the 24th to pay respects and issued an apology. President Kim said, "We will make the subway safer so that the victim's sacrifice is not in vain," and added, "We pray for the repose of the deceased who lost their life due to an unfortunate incident at the Seoul Metro workplace. To ensure the victim's sacrifice is not in vain, we will closely monitor blind spots at the site so that employees can work in a safer environment and will find and correct wrong practices and systems."

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