Man in His 20s Arrested for High School Girl's Murder Had Been Reported for Stalking Prior to Crime

Stalked a Foreign Female Coworker
Committed Murder Two Days After Being Reported

A man in his twenties, who was arrested on charges of fatally stabbing a high school girl he did not know in downtown Gwangju, had been reported to the police for stalking just two days before the crime.

According to Yonhap News on May 8, the Gwangju Gwangsan Police Station, which is investigating the case, is focusing on the link between the stalking report filed against Jang (24), who was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder, and the murder case itself, with the stalking complaint filed two days prior to the attack.

On the morning of the 7th, at the Gwangju District Court in Dong-gu, Gwangju, suspect Jang, involved in a "random murder," was moving after completing the pre-trial detention hearing. Photo by Yonhap News.

Jang was reported to the police as a stalking perpetrator on May 3, two days before the attack on the high school student, at a location in the Cheomdan District of Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. The complainant was Ms. A, a foreign woman who was a coworker of Jang at a part-time job. At the time, Ms. A was preparing to move to another region, but Jang visited her and reportedly tried to persuade her not to leave, leading to an altercation. During this incident, Ms. A was subjected to minor physical assault by Jang. Ms. A is said to have proceeded with her move to another region as planned. Based on this, the police are interviewing Ms. A, as well as Jang's acquaintances and family members, as reference witnesses.

In particular, the police are tracking Jang's whereabouts from May 3 until the day of the crime, based on evidence that he moved around with two knives in his possession immediately after the stalking report.

Jang is also known to have used two mobile phones, and the police are continuing their search for one of them, which he claimed to have discarded in a stream. The other phone in his possession was found to be a device without a SIM card, and it is currently being analyzed through digital forensics.

At around 12:11 a.m. on May 5, Jang was arrested for stabbing a 17-year-old high school girl to death and seriously injuring another 17-year-old male high school student with a knife on a walkway near a university in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. In the police investigation, Jang reportedly stated, "Life was not enjoyable, and while I was contemplating suicide, I decided to commit the crime in hopes that someone would take me away."

Meanwhile, on May 8, the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency held a committee to review the disclosure of personal information and decided to release Jang's name, age, and facial photo, as he was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder. Jang's personal information will be posted on the Gwangju Metropolitan Police Agency website for 30 days, from 9 a.m. on May 14 to June 12.

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