Coast Guard Officer Who Killed Girlfriend Had Prior Sexual Crime Record Before Appointment

Previous 'Fine' Penalty for Assisting Distribution of Obscene Material
Not a Disqualification at Coast Guard Recruitment
Prosecution Seeks 'Life Imprisonment'

A former marine police officer in his 30s, who was tried for strangling his girlfriend to death in a commercial building restroom last August, was found to have been appointed to the police despite having a prior record of sex crimes.

According to the legal community on the 17th, Choi Mo (30), a former police officer who was dismissed after being indicted for murder, was reported to have committed sex crimes and received criminal punishment before his appointment to the marine police.

Choi Mo-shi attending the detention warrant hearing [Photo by Yonhap News]

Choi was indicted for visiting lodging establishments four times between May and November 2021 to film sexual intercourse videos, charged with aiding the distribution of obscene materials under the Information and Communications Network Act, and was fined 1 million won in January last year. He reportedly contacted people after seeing so-called ‘chodaenam’ recruitment posts on SNS, agreed to filming and distribution of sexual acts with them, and committed the crimes.

Despite having this criminal record, Choi passed the marine police recruitment and became a probationary police officer.

According to the Police Officer Act, those sentenced to suspension of qualifications or higher, or those under probation, are disqualified during document screening; however, Choi did not fall under these categories. The charge of aiding the distribution of obscene materials for which Choi was punished did not correspond to the sex violence special law disqualification under the Police Officer Act at the time of appointment. This regulation was strengthened in December last year.

Choi, who belonged to the Mokpo Marine Police, was arrested and indicted on charges of strangling his girlfriend to death after an argument in a restroom of a commercial building in Hadang-dong, Mokpo, Jeollanam-do on August 15. This crime was committed less than a year after his appointment to the marine police.

On the 16th, the prosecution demanded a life sentence for Choi at the sentencing trial held at the Mokpo branch of the Gwangju District Court.

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