Jang Dae-ho's Handwritten Letter Released on Ilbe
Authorship by Jang Dae-ho Unclear
Ministry of Justice "No Separate Plan to Investigate Circumstances"
Jang Dae-ho, the suspect in the 'Hangang Torso Corpse' case who was arrested on charges of murdering a motel guest, mutilating the body, and disposing of it in the Hangang River, is entering Goyang Police Station in Gyeonggi for additional questioning on the 21st. /Goyang=Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A handwritten letter allegedly written by Jang Dae-ho, the suspect in the 'Han River Dismemberment Murder Case,' while in custody has been revealed through an online community, sparking interest in whether Jang Dae-ho actually wrote the letter. However, the Ministry of Justice has no plans to verify the authenticity of the letter or investigate how it was sent.
On the 12th, an ultra-right-wing online community called 'Ilgan Best Storage' (Ilbe) posted a message from a user claiming to have received a reply after sending a letter to Jang Dae-ho, who is incarcerated at Seoul Detention Center, along with a three-page letter. The letter contained statements such as, "I admit that I am a serious criminal who committed an inexcusable heinous crime, but I assert that the deceased was also a bad person."
The author of the letter stated, "This case is not about the fact that the victim was a Joseonjok (ethnic Korean Chinese); that is not the important perspective. It is simply a case of a bad person killing another bad person," and also admitted, "Of course, I was a bit worse."
Additionally, the letter included the author's past history, personal thoughts, and expectations regarding his future disposition. The letter writer identified himself as Jang Dae-ho and added a warning not to commit murder even when angry. The letter was signed with Jang Dae-ho’s name and dated the 6th of last month.
Jang Dae-ho, the suspect in the "Hangang Torso Corpse" case who was arrested on charges of murdering a motel guest, mutilating the body, and disposing of it in the Hangang River, is entering Goyang Police Station in Gyeonggi for additional questioning on the 21st. /Goyang=Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@
The Ministry of Justice has no plans to investigate the circumstances surrounding the letter. A Ministry of Justice official stated, "While it is not impossible for correspondence to be disclosed externally, at this time we cannot verify the authenticity of the letter, nor do we plan to."
Even if it is true that Jang Dae-ho sent a letter to an outsider, this act itself does not violate the law. According to the Act on the Execution of Sentences and Treatment of Prisoners, inmates are allowed to freely exchange letters with outsiders, and in principle, censorship of letters is prohibited. Exceptions allowing censorship include concerns about evidence destruction or the need to maintain order within correctional facilities. However, it has not been confirmed whether Jang Dae-ho’s letters are subject to censorship.
This is not the first time writings attributed to Jang Dae-ho have been made public. At the end of last year, he wrote a 28-page diary-style memoir detailing his crime methods and process, which was also disclosed externally.
Jang Dae-ho was arrested and indicted in August last year on charges of killing a guest identified as A (32) with a blunt weapon at a motel in Guro-gu, Seoul, where he worked, dismembering the body with a sharp weapon, and disposing of it in the Han River. In November of the same year, he was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial and is currently detained in a detention center. The prosecution, which sought the death penalty in the first trial, has appealed to the court. Jang Dae-ho also filed an appeal. Accordingly, the appellate trial is currently underway at the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 3 (Presiding Judges Bae Jun-hyun, Pyo Hyun-duk, and Kim Kyu-dong).
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