Korean Man Stabbed Girlfriend 190 Times, But The Court Ruled It Was "Accidental"

A bone-chilling murder case of a woman in her 20s and a subsequent court ruling on the case left Korean netizens enraged recently.

Image used for illustrative purposes only | *iStockPhotos*

The victim, initially identified as Ms. B, was stabbed fatally by her fiancé over 190 times on July 24, 2023. On January 11, the Chuncheon District Court sentenced the 28-year-old killer, identified as Mr. A, to 17 years in prison. This sentence was much lower than the 25-year prison term sought by the prosecution.

The ruling was deemed unfair by the victim’s family, who, in a desperate bid to seek justice for their daughter, relayed her story through the JTBC current affairs program, Scandal Supervisor. In the program, the bereaved family also revealed the victim’s identity as Choi Yoon Jong.

Choi lived with her fiancé in an apartment in Yeongwol County, Gangwon, where she was murdered by him last year. During the investigation, Mr. A told the authorities that he attacked Choi in response to an insult from her when he went home for lunch. He testified that before committing the crime, he was already under immense stress over an ongoing dispute with their neighbors over noise complaints. In an argument about this issue, Choi allegedly called him “retarded,” which prompted the attack from him.

After fatally stabbing Choi, her fiancé inflicted wounds on himself before calling the police and confessing to his crime. He underwent surgery first and then was arrested.

Despite the heinous crime, the court stated that Mr. A’s attack was not premeditated but “accidental.” They also took into account the fact that he called the police immediately after. Though the prosecution wanted 25 years of prison for “A,” the court, showing these arguments, justified a lower sentence.

However, the victim’s mother told JTBC that the murder was, in fact, premeditated. She argued that the killer had previously told an investigator that he decided to kill Choi after she woke him up from an afternoon nap at work with a phone call. In his initial statements, she claimed that he had made no mention of any insults from Choi.

He changed his statement just before the sentencing, now claiming that my daughter insulted him.

— Choi’s mother

She also pointed out that the entire incident took place within just 20 minutes, including “A” taking the elevator to the apartment, committing the crime, and reporting it to the police. Additionally, the neighbors that caused “stress” to “A” had already moved out a week before the murder.

I still don’t know the exact truth behind why he murdered her.

— Choi’s mother

The family believes that the ₩42.0 million KRW (about $ 31,600 USD) that they received from a government-run victim support center may have had something to do with the lenient sentence given to “A.” The mother stated that if they knew the payment, which they thought to be grievance compensation, would be seen as a settlement, they would have never accepted it. “What kind of parent would accept 42 million won in exchange for their child’s life?” she urged.

The bereaved mother also added that her daughter had suffered all her life due to Type 1 diabetes and lamented that she had to be in pain even in her last moments.

The prosecution has announced their plan to appeal the ruling, seeking an electronic tracking device for the killer upon release. This recommendation was denied in the initial ruling.