Jeon Juhwan Life Sentence Confirmed... Bereaved Family Says "Parole Absolutely Not Allowed"

Murder Following Expected Heavy Sentence for Stalking Crime
Supreme Court: "Life Imprisonment Cannot Be Deemed Unjust"

Jeon Ju-hwan (32), who stalked and murdered a woman at Sindang Station on Seoul Subway Line 2, has been sentenced to life imprisonment. The bereaved family stated, "There should never be parole for a life sentence."

On the 12th, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice No Jeong-hee) dismissed Jeon's appeal in the final trial for charges including retaliatory murder under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, coercion using filmed materials under the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, violation of the Stalking Punishment Act, and trespassing, thereby confirming the life sentence. The order to attach an electronic location tracking device (electronic anklet) for 15 years and to complete 40 hours each of sexual violence and stalking treatment programs was also upheld.

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@ 20220921

The court stated, "Even considering circumstances favorable to the defendant, it cannot be said that the lower court's imposition of a life sentence on the defendant was grossly unjust."

Jeon was arrested and indicted for murdering A, a colleague who joined Seoul Metro at the same time, with a pre-prepared weapon in the women's restroom at Sindang Station on September 14 last year. He was also charged with stalking A 351 times, including sending illegal filmed materials and threatening messages starting about a year before the crime in October 2021. Anticipating a heavy sentence for stalking crimes, Jeon committed the murder one day before the first trial sentencing.

The first trial court sentenced him to 40 years imprisonment for retaliatory murder and 9 years imprisonment for stalking. The appellate court merged the two cases and sentenced him to life imprisonment. The appellate court stated, "The defendant committed heinous additional crimes consecutively during the trial process after public authority intervention due to the victim's report, showing no grounds for mitigation." Jeon appealed the appellate court's ruling, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, finding no issues with the lower court's judgment.

On the day of the ruling, the victim's family attended the court in person. Min Go-eun, the lawyer representing the family, said to the press after the verdict, "Considering the victim's life, no punishment would be sufficient, but we firmly believe there should never be parole for a life sentence. We earnestly hope that state agencies will not be deceived again by the defendant's false remorse so that crimes involving the killing of innocent people never happen again."

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