Park Daesung (31), who murdered a teenage woman he had never met before, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.
According to the legal community on September 9, the Supreme Court's third division (Presiding Justice Lee Heunggu) finalized the lower court's ruling that sentenced Park Daesung to life imprisonment on August 14. Park had been indicted on charges of murder and attempted murder.
On September 26 last year, at approximately 12:44 a.m., Park Daesung was charged with stabbing and killing an 18-year-old female pedestrian multiple times with a weapon for no particular reason on a street in Jorye-dong, Suncheon, South Jeolla Province. Immediately after the crime, he was also accused of preparing for additional murders by visiting bars and karaoke rooms operated by female owners while still carrying the weapon. Investigations revealed that he committed what is known as a "random killing" as an outlet for personal grievances, including financial hardship, family discord, and accumulated feelings of alienation.
Both the first and second trials sentenced Park Daesung to life imprisonment. In May, the appellate court stated, "This is an extreme disregard for human life, a so-called 'random crime,'" and criticized, "Sadly, there have been murder cases nationwide, but none have provoked such public outrage as this case."
Although Park Daesung appealed the ruling, the Supreme Court also dismissed his appeal, stating, "Considering the defendant’s age, character, environment, the motive, means, and outcome of the crime, as well as the circumstances after the crime, the lower court's sentence of life imprisonment cannot be considered excessively unjust."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
