'Apartment Complex Stabbing Murder' Perpetrator's Father Makes Outrageous Remark: "My Son Is Amazing"

"Crime Motive Was Public Interest, State Should Compensate"
Victims' Families Request Protection Due to Secondary Harm

The father of a man in his 30s accused of fatally stabbing a neighbor with a weapon at the entrance of an apartment complex in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, has shocked the public by posting comments claiming that the crime was committed "for a greater cause."

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 8th, the Seoul Western Police Station reported that the victim's family filed a complaint on the afternoon of the 4th against the perpetrator's father, Mr. A, for defamation of the deceased. Mr. A is accused of damaging the victim's honor by posting comments defending his son, Baek Mo, on news articles related to the murder from the 27th of last month until that day.

Mr. A wrote about 20 comments containing statements such as, "(My son) sacrificed himself and committed the murder for a greater cause," "If the motive was national security, let's try to empathize from a perspective of coexistence," "If the motive was public interest rather than private gain, the state should provide appropriate compensation," and "Why would a healthy young man sacrifice himself and commit murder? It was to eliminate a Chinese spy trying to start a war on the Korean Peninsula."

Regarding the reason for posting the comments, Mr. A said, "From a parent's perspective, my child is not the kind of person who would do this, but this happened," and added, "What surprised me about this incident is that (my son) was truly an extraordinary person."

Secondary victim-blaming comments left by the father of Baek, the perpetrator of the apartment complex murder case in Eunpyeong-gu.
[Image source=JTBC]

Mr. A currently lives in the same building as the victim's family. The bereaved family, suffering from secondary victimization, has requested police protection. The victim's wife tearfully expressed her sorrow, saying, "If only I hadn't insisted on moving there, or if I hadn't married him, this person might not have died like this. I feel it's my fault."

Earlier, Baek is accused of killing a man in his 40s, a neighbor, with a weapon at the entrance of an apartment complex in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul, around 11:30 p.m. on July 29. After the initial attack, Baek chased the fleeing victim and brutally murdered him. After the crime, Baek changed his clothes at home and was then arrested by the police. It is understood that Baek and the victim only had a casual acquaintance. Baek expressed no remorse to the bereaved family, stating, "I did this to eliminate a Chinese spy." Baek applied for a citizen trial on the 4th.