The murder of a Chinese female international student in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, has sparked public outrage in China, with calls for the death penalty and strict punishment.
Following the news of the death of the victim in her 20s, identified as A, who had gone missing in South Korea, related search terms surged to the top of real-time trending lists on Chinese social media, accompanied by a flood of media reports.
After A, who was visiting South Korea to attend a graduation ceremony, went on a missing persons list, posts believed to have been written by A's family were uploaded consecutively on Chinese social media, drawing local attention to her whereabouts.
Before the identity of the perpetrator was revealed, local concerns had emerged suggesting that "a woman living alone in South Korea had fallen victim to crime."
However, once it was revealed that the perpetrator was a part-time university instructor surnamed Jeong, who is also a Chinese national like the victim, fury erupted.
Some local media outlets even sparked controversy by erroneously reporting Jeong's nationality as South Korean.
Local netizens are demanding severe punishment, making remarks such as, "South Korea has not carried out the death penalty in 30 years, so Jeong should be extradited to China for trial," and "He must be sentenced to death under Chinese law."
The Chinese consulate has also urged South Korean police to conduct a swift and thorough investigation and strictly punish the perpetrator, adding that it will provide consular assistance to the bereaved family.
Jeong is suspected of murdering A at his residence in Hayang-eup, Gyeongsan, in the early hours of the 20th, and then mutilating and abandoning her body in various locations across the country.
He is also suspected of filing a false missing person report with the police to throw off the investigation, disguising himself in A's clothes to travel to Dongdaegu Station, and turning off A's mobile phone.
Reported by Jung Da-eun | Video by Seo Byeong-wook | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News
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