Bereaved Family and Prosecutors: "No Need for Psychiatric Evaluation"
Court: "Careful Sentencing Process Required"
A psychiatric evaluation procedure will be conducted for Jaewan Myung (48), a former teacher who murdered first-grade student Kim Haneul (8) at an elementary school in Daejeon.
According to a Yonhap News report on June 30, the 12th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Byungman) decided to grant the psychiatric evaluation requested by Myung's defense attorney during the trial on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (for profit-motivated abduction and luring, etc.).
The court stated, "This case carries the most severe statutory penalties under criminal law, so a cautious sentencing process is necessary," and added, "Since the prosecution's request for an attachment order is being processed together, it is also necessary to closely examine the risk of recidivism." The court therefore accepted the request for psychiatric evaluation.
Under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, the abduction or luring and subsequent murder of a minor under the age of 13 is punishable by either the death penalty or life imprisonment. Myung's defense attorney requested the psychiatric evaluation, stating, "It is necessary to clearly determine the extent to which mental illness or depression influenced the commission of this crime." In response, both the prosecution and the victim's side argued that a psychiatric evaluation was unnecessary, citing the fact that Myung meticulously planned the crime and based on the opinions of a psychiatrist and a criminal psychology expert, who believed that Myung was fully capable of understanding the nature and consequences of his actions at the time of the crime.
The court reiterated that this case is among the most serious, with only the death penalty and life imprisonment as possible sentences, and stated, "The results of the psychiatric evaluation will not be binding on the court. We will collect sufficient materials and do our utmost to consider the opinions of both parties and the bereaved family."
The psychiatric evaluation process is known to take at least a month. The court announced that the next hearing will be scheduled once the results of the evaluation are available.
Myung was indicted on charges of murdering first-grader Kim at an elementary school in Daejeon around 5 p.m. on February 10, after she had finished her after-school care class and was on her way home. In April, the Daejeon Metropolitan Office of Education convened a disciplinary committee and decided to dismiss Myung, and since he did not pursue any appeal procedures, the dismissal was finalized. It is reported that since the start of the trial in March, Myung has submitted a total of 50 letters of apology to the court.
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