Defendant Arrested and Indicted... "Planned Crime Due to Delusion"

Hard to Consider as a State of Mental and Physical Weakness

Baek Mo (37), who killed a man in his 40s by wielding a weapon in front of the main gate of an apartment in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, has been brought to trial while in custody.

Baek Mo (37), who was urgently arrested by the police on suspicion of fatally attacking a neighbor with a Japanese sword at an apartment in Eunpyeong-gu, is entering the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, on the morning of the 1st to undergo a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant review). [Image source=Yonhap News]

On the 23rd, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Eun-ha) announced that Baek was indicted in custody on charges of murder and violation of the Firearms and Ammunition Control Act. Baek is accused of stabbing the victim about 10 times on the face and shoulder with a weapon at an apartment in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, on the 29th of last month. Baek and the victim were neighbors in the same apartment and knew each other by face, but were not personally close, according to the investigation.

According to the prosecution, Baek quit his job in 2021 and prepared for reemployment without any significant economic activity for about three years. During this process, he fell into a delusion that "Chinese spies were planning to start a war against the Republic of Korea and he had to stop it." To prepare a weapon to use against the Chinese spies, he purchased a Japanese sword and falsely reported it as a "decorative item," according to the investigation.

Analysis of Baek's diary and internet search history also revealed that the crime was thoroughly premeditated. Baek showed meticulous behavior by purchasing an additional wooden sword to practice using the Japanese sword and disguising the Japanese sword in a golf bag.

The prosecution judged that it is difficult to consider Baek to have been in a state of diminished mental capacity at the time of the crime, considering that he committed the crime with a clear sense of purpose and premeditation, and that he searched for terms such as "Japanese sword murder case" before the crime.

A prosecution official said, "We will do our best to maintain the prosecution so that the defendant can be sentenced to a severe punishment corresponding to the crime," and added, "We will strictly respond to violent crimes with abnormal motives that threaten the peaceful daily lives of the people and cause social unrest."