Supreme Court Confirms Life Sentences for Lee Kyung-woo and Hwang Dae-han in Gangnam Kidnapping and Murder Case...Couple Behind Receives 8 and 6 Years Imprisonment

The main perpetrators of the 'Gangnam Kidnapping and Murder' case, Lee Kyung-woo (37) and Hwang Dae-han (37), who kidnapped and killed a woman in her 40s in broad daylight in the heart of Gangnam, Seoul, have been sentenced to life imprisonment.

The Supreme Court's 1st Division (Presiding Justice No Tae-ak) on the 11th upheld the original sentence of life imprisonment for Lee Kyung-woo and Hwang Dae-han, who were charged with robbery-murder and corpse disposal. Additionally, their accomplice Yeon Ji-ho (31) was sentenced to 23 years in prison, and the couple behind the crime, Yoo Sang-won (52) and Hwang Eun-hee (50), were sentenced to 8 years and 6 years in prison respectively.

Lee Kyung-woo, Hwang Dae-han, and Yeon Ji-ho, who were arrested on charges of kidnapping, murdering, and disposing of the body of a woman in her 40s in Gangnam, Seoul, were transferred to the prosecution on the afternoon of April 9 last year at the Suseo Police Station in Seoul.

The court stated the reason for dismissing the appeals of Lee Kyung-woo and Hwang Dae-han, saying, "There is no error in the original judgment that violates the rules of logic and experience, exceeds the limits of free evaluation of evidence, or misinterprets the legal principles regarding conspiracy in robbery-murder, intent, attempted robbery, and violation of the Narcotics Control Act (psychotropic substances)."

Regarding claims of disproportionate sentencing, the court also stated, "It cannot be said that maintaining the first trial's sentence of life imprisonment for the defendants is seriously unjust."

Lee Kyung-woo and Hwang Dae-han were charged with kidnapping the victim (48 years old at the time of death) in front of an apartment complex in Yeoksam-dong on March 29 last year, after receiving 70 million won from the couple Yoo Sang-won and Hwang Eun-hee, who had conflicts with the victim due to failed cryptocurrency investments. They then killed the victim the next morning and secretly buried the body in a mountain near Daecheong Dam in Daejeon.

The couple Yoo Sang-won and Hwang Eun-hee were accused of paying 70 million won to Lee Kyung-woo's proposal to kidnap the victim, who had conflicts with them over failed cryptocurrency investments, to seize cryptocurrency and kill the victim.

Previously, the prosecution sought the death penalty for Lee Kyung-woo, Hwang Dae-han, Yoo Sang-won, and Hwang Eun-hee, and life imprisonment for Yeon Ji-ho.

However, the court found that although Yoo Sang-won and Hwang Eun-hee conspired in the robbery, they did not participate in the crime with the intent to kill the victim.

The prosecution requested the court to apply the charge of robbery resulting in death to the couple in the second trial, but the court rejected this, stating, "It is difficult to conclude beyond reasonable doubt that the defendants foresaw that the victim would be killed or could die as a result of the crime."

Both sides appealed, but the Supreme Court found no problem with the second trial court's judgment.

Lee Kyung-woo's acquaintance, Mr. Lee, who assisted in the crime by tracking the victim's movements, was sentenced to 4 years in prison, and Lee Kyung-woo's wife, Heo, who worked as a nursing assistant and illegally provided psychotropic drugs used in the murder from the hospital, was sentenced to 4 years and 6 months in prison.

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