[Anchor]
Jang Yoon-ki, who murdered a female high school student for sexual assault purposes, has been sentenced to life in prison in the first trial. While the court stated that parole must never be allowed while Jang is alive, the bereaved family, who had pleaded for the death penalty, protested that they could not accept the ruling.
Reporter Dong Eunyeong has the details.
[Reporter]
Wearing a yellowish-brown prison uniform and an expressionless face, Jang Yoon-ki enters the Gwangju District Court for his first-trial sentencing hearing.
The prosecution, which indicted Jang on charges including rape and murder—punishable only by the death penalty or life imprisonment—had previously sought the death penalty during the sentencing hearing.
The first-instance court recognized all charges as guilty today (September 30), stating that the crime was merciless and brutal, inflicting unforgettable pain on the victim and her family.
The court strongly rebuked Jang, noting that rather than showing genuine remorse or reflection, he showed an attitude of trying to evade the situation moment by moment.
The court judged that Jang must be permanently isolated from society, explaining that sentencing him to life imprisonment instead of death was the result of deep deliberation.
Stating, "Judges are also human beings before being judges," and noting thoughts of whether it would be right to sentence him to capital punishment depriving him of life, the court explained that it considered the fact that South Korea is a de facto abolitionist state regarding the death penalty.
However, the court noted that it specified in the verdict that parole must not be allowed as long as Jang is alive.
While Jang showed little reaction at the moment the life sentence was handed down, the parents of the late Lee Chae-won, who recently staged a one-person protest demanding the death penalty, could not stop sobbing, crying out, "I'm sorry, Chaewon."
[Mother of the Late Lee Chae-won: I want to ask if the court even for a single moment properly grasped the horrific fear Chaewon must have felt in that terrifying moment and the hell-like sorrow that the remaining parents must carry for the rest of their lives. Why should the perpetrator be kept alive while the victim had to die?]
The bereaved family pointed out whether life imprisonment without parole should be legally institutionalized if a death sentence is not handed down, and stated they would request the prosecution to appeal.
(Camera Footage: Kim Hak-mo | Video Editing: Lim Yeojin)
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