"Jeong Yujeong: If Not Caught, Would Have Lived Pretending to Be a Victim"

Lee Sujeong, Professor of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University
"Chosen as a Victim, Once an Admired Figure"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Lee Soo-jung, a criminal psychology expert and professor in the Department of Criminal Psychology at Kyonggi University, commented on Jeong Yoo-jeong (23), who murdered and abandoned a peer woman she had never met, saying, "If she had not been caught, she would still be pretending to be the victim and living in the victim's house."

On the afternoon of the 5th, on YTN Radio's 'Shin Yul's News Face-off,' Professor Lee was asked whether Jeong Yoo-jeong would have committed another murder if she had not been caught at the time. She replied, "That part is very difficult to predict," but emphasized the possibility of identity theft.

She stated, "Jeong Yoo-jeong took the victim's belongings such as her cellphone and resident registration card. The victim was a woman living alone, and her house was empty at the time. If she had not been arrested, it is quite possible that Jeong Yoo-jeong would have lived in the house, pretending to be the victim to some extent."

As the basis for her judgment, she pointed out that Jeong Yoo-jeong deliberately sought out a target she admired as the victim. Professor Lee explained, "The victim chosen by this person (Jeong Yoo-jeong) was an English teacher, and not just any English teacher, but one who graduated from a prestigious university. This might have been the image she wanted to become, so she selected an object of admiration as the victim and even bought a used school uniform to wear in order to deceive the victim until the very end."

She continued, "School uniforms cause various inconveniences. For example, bloodstains can easily get on them. In a way, choosing a school uniform was not a practical choice, which is closely related to this person's desires. Since she admired someone like the victim, it is possible that if she had not been caught, she would have impersonated that person and lived in the victim's house," she analyzed.

Jeong Yoo-jeong murdered a peer woman she met through a tutoring app in Busan, dismembered the body, and abandoned it. Wearing a used school uniform she purchased, she went to the victim's house around 5:40 p.m. on the 26th of last month, committed the crime, and then changed into the victim's clothes before leaving.

During police investigation, she stated, "I actually wanted to kill, so I committed the crime," and "I was driven to commit the crime by a murderous impulse." Early in the investigation, she also caused confusion by claiming, "There is another real culprit."