[Breaking] 'Gangnam Officetel Mother-Daughter Relationship Murder' Park Hak-seon Sentenced to Life Imprisonment in First Trial

Mugshot of Park Hak-seon, the 'Gangnam Officetel Mother and Daughter Murderer,' released by the police.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Park Hak-seon (65), who committed the so-called 'relationship murder' at an officetel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, was sentenced to life imprisonment in the first trial.

On the 1st, the Criminal Division 23 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Oh Se-yong) sentenced Park, who was on trial for killing a woman in her 60s, A, and her daughter in her 30s, B, to life imprisonment.

Previously, the prosecution had sought the death penalty. At the sentencing hearing on September 30, the prosecution described Park's crime as an "extreme disregard for human life murder case" and requested the court to impose the death penalty, stating that "there is a need to sound an alarm against the increasingly serious crimes between lovers."

Park was indicted on charges of killing the mother and daughter at an officetel in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on May 30. After A notified him of their breakup, Park went up to the victims' office, killed daughter B, and then chased and killed A as she tried to escape, according to the investigation.

He fled after the crime but was arrested by the police 13 hours later. Due to the brutality of the crime and the severity of the damage, the police released Park Hak-seon's mugshot and personal information.