Chung Sung-ho on Prosecution Dropping Appeal in 'Cyanide Makgeolli' Case: "Fortunate, Prosecution Must Deeply Reflect"

"No Apology Even After Trampling on Victims' Human Rights"
Mother and Daughter in 'Suncheon Makgeolli Murder' Acquitted After 16 Years

Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho commented on the 'Suncheon Cyanide Makgeolli Murder Case,' stating, "It is fortunate that the prosecution has decided not to appeal. They must feel a heavy sense of responsibility."

Justice Minister Chung Sung-ho is responding to a lawmaker's question during the Legislation and Judiciary Committee's audit of the Ministry of Justice held at the National Assembly on October 14, 2025. Photo by Kim Hyunmin

On November 4, through a post on his Facebook page, Minister Chung said, "The prosecution must engage in sincere self-reflection, apology, and reform efforts," adding, "The prosecutors in charge of the investigation at the time, who trampled on the victims' human rights and have yet to issue a single apology, must feel a deep sense of responsibility."

Minister Chung explained, "In 2009, the prosecution indicted a mother and daughter with borderline intelligence, claiming they had maintained an inappropriate relationship and distributed makgeolli laced with cyanide to residents in order to murder the wife and mother, resulting in the deaths of two people." He added, "The two women were sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 years in prison, respectively."

He continued, "It took as long as 16 years of unjust suffering before the retrial acquittal last week and the prosecution’s decision not to appeal today," and added, "The retrial court pointed out that the prosecution at the time induced confessions from the victims without objective evidence and failed to guarantee their right to properly review the statements, even though the victims were illiterate and unable to read or write."

He stated, "Going forward, I will take necessary measures to ensure that the victims are promptly compensated for their lost time and that their honor is restored," and added, "Once again, I apologize to the victims who have suffered for so many years due to the wrongful abuse of prosecutorial power."

Ms. Baek (75) and her daughter (41) were indicted on charges of mixing cyanide, a poisonous substance, into makgeolli and murdering the wife and a neighbor, as well as injuring two others, in a village in Hwangjeon-myeon, Suncheon, Jeollanam-do, on July 6, 2009.

The prosecution argued that the mother and daughter, who had maintained an inappropriate relationship, conspired to murder the wife and biological mother and indicted them. In the first trial in 2010, the court acquitted them, citing doubts about the credibility of the statements. However, in the second trial in 2011, the two women were sentenced to life imprisonment and 20 years in prison, respectively, and the sentences were finalized by the Supreme Court in 2012.

In January 2022, attorney Park Junyoung, a specialist in retrials, filed for a retrial, which was accepted by the court, leading to the commencement of the retrial. On October 28, the Gwangju High Court Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Judge Lee Euyeong), which handled the retrial, overturned the original verdict and acquitted the defendants, 16 years after the incident occurred.