The prosecution has appealed after a man in his 30s was sentenced to life imprisonment for killing a neighboring resident with a Japanese sword.
Baek Mo (37), who killed a neighbor wielding a Japanese sword, is entering the Seoul Western District Court. Yonhap News
According to the legal community on the 11th, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office filed an appeal against the first trial verdict of Baek Mo (38), who was indicted on charges of murder.
Baek is accused of repeatedly swinging a decorative sword, which was permitted as an ornament and has a blade length of about 75 cm and an overall length of about 102 cm, at a man in his 40s, a neighboring resident, in an apartment complex in Eunpyeong-gu at around 11:22 p.m. on July 29 last year, causing his death.
It was revealed that Baek had been delusional since around October 2023, believing that "Chinese spies were planning to start a war against the Republic of Korea," and thought the victim, whom he often encountered in the same apartment complex, was a Chinese spy following and surveilling him, which led to the crime.
The 12th Criminal Division of the Seoul Western District Court (Presiding Judge Kwon Seong-su) sentenced Baek to life imprisonment on the 7th. Additionally, they ordered the attachment of a location tracking device for 20 years and imposed compliance conditions including prohibiting any approach to the bereaved family and requiring regular psychiatric treatment.
The court stated, "Considering the motive, content, and cruelty of the method of the crime, even taking into account the defendant's mental state, the nature of the crime is extremely serious and the responsibility is grave," and judged that "there is a need to isolate him indefinitely from society and deprive him of his freedom."
The victim's family requested the prosecution to appeal after life imprisonment was sentenced instead of the death penalty.
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