"Is Being Pretty a Crime?"... 'Valley Murder' Lee Eunhae Appeared in 'Fan Talk Room'

Some Netizens Open KakaoTalk Open Chat Rooms
"Pretty Means Forgiven," "My Ideal Type," and Other Posts

Some netizens created a "Fantok room" for Lee Eun-hae (31), the suspect in the "Gapyeong Valley Murder" case, sparking controversy. / Photo by KakaoTalk Open Chat Room capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] A large number of KakaoTalk group chats defending Lee Eunhae (31), the suspect in the so-called 'valley murder' case, have been created, which is expected to cause a bigger controversy.

On the 11th, searching for Lee Eunhae in KakaoTalk open chat rooms shows open chat rooms such as 'Lee Eunhae Fan Talk Room,' 'Lee Eunhae Fan Club,' and 'Valley Lee Eunhae.' In these chat rooms, with about 40 to 100 participants, netizens actively defended Lee.

Netizens posted comments like "Honestly, what did Lee Eunhae do wrong?", "Is being pretty a crime?", and "The court hasn't even made a final verdict, so why treat her like a criminal?"

In one chat room notice, a post stated, "Crime doesn't matter. Appearance matters. If you're pretty, everything is forgiven," while some joked, saying, "Lee Eunhae is my ideal type."

There were also reactions mocking the victim beyond defending the perpetrator. One netizen shifted responsibility to the victim, saying, "Why did she fall for gaslighting?"

Some netizens entered these fan talk rooms and posted criticisms such as "What were you thinking when you made this chat room?" and "Are you sane?" However, those claiming to be Lee's fans responded to such criticism by saying, "If you're not prettier than Lee Eunhae, you have no right to insult her."

Suspect Lee (left) and Mr. Cho Hyun-soo in the 'Valley Murder Case' / Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, Lee is accused of murdering her husband, Yoon (39 at the time of death), on June 30, 2019, at around 8:24 p.m. in Yongsogye Valley, Gapyeong County, together with her lover, Jo Hyunsoo. It was investigated that Lee and Jo induced Yoon, who could not swim, to dive and did not rescue him when he was drowning, resulting in his death.

They disappeared ahead of the prosecution's second investigation in December last year and have been missing for four months. The prosecution believes the two committed the crime aiming for the victim's death insurance payout of 800 million won.

In February 2019, they also attempted to kill Yoon by feeding him food mixed with pufferfish blood at a pension in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, but the toxicity was below the lethal dose, so the attempt failed.

Additionally, three months later in May of the same year, they tried to kill Yoon by drowning him at a fishing spot in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, but the attempt failed after being caught by an acquaintance who woke up.