Claimed Impulsive Crime Due to Victim's Threats
Court Finds It Was Premeditated
A military officer, Yang Gwang-jun (39), who killed a female civilian employee working with him after fearing their affair would be exposed, dismembered the body, and disposed of it in the Bukhan River in Hwacheon-gun, Gangwon Province, was sentenced to life imprisonment. On the 20th, the Criminal Division 2 of Chuncheon District Court (Chief Judge Kim Seong-rae) sentenced Yang Gwang-jun to life imprisonment on charges of murder, corpse mutilation, and corpse concealment.
Yang Gwang-jun claimed that he committed the crime impulsively due to extreme stress and fear caused by the victim's words, insults, and threats to expose their affair. However, the court ruled that it was a premeditated crime.
The court stated, "After killing the victim, he manipulated signs of life to make it appear as if the victim was still alive, sent KakaoTalk messages impersonating the victim to her mother, and the circumstances after the crime are very unfavorable. Considering the process of mutilating and concealing the corpse, the method was extremely cruel, showing no minimal respect for the victim's dignity."
The court also pointed out, "Although he submitted a letter of remorse expressing regret for his wrongdoing, he simultaneously expressed the burden and distress he felt in the relationship with the victim, claiming the crime was impulsive. It is questionable whether he fully recognizes the seriousness and gravity of his crime and is truly repentant."
Yang Gwang-jun was tried on charges of strangling and killing A (33) in a fit of rage during an argument in his vehicle in the unit parking lot around 3 p.m. on October 25 last year, dismembering the body, and disposing of it in the Bukhan River in Hwacheon around 9:40 p.m. the following day.
Yang Gwang-jun was a lieutenant colonel (jin) belonging to the Cyber Operations Command of the Republic of Korea Army in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi Province, and was transferred to a subordinate unit in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on October 28. A was confirmed to be a fixed-term civilian employee who worked in the same unit.
Investigations revealed that on the morning of the crime, Yang Gwang-jun and A, who were in a romantic relationship, had an argument while carpooling to work, and he committed the crime to prevent their relationship from being exposed. Unlike Yang Gwang-jun, who was already married with a family, A was unmarried.
Yang Gwang-jun showed meticulousness by sending messages from the victim's phone to family, acquaintances, and workplace to conceal the fact that the victim had been murdered. After the incident, Yang Gwang-jun was dismissed by the military authorities.
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