Scoffed at Pleas of "My Intestines Are Hanging Out"... 10-Year Friend Murdered and Told to "Kimchi"

Why did the naked murderer Jeong Jae-hwan brutally kill his friend?

In yesterday's episode of the SBS program "Unanswered Questions," the truth behind the Gyeongsan friend murder case was investigated under the subtitle "The Naked Murderer and the Live-Streamed Death — Why Did Jeong Jae-hwan Kill His Friend."

In the early hours of July 4, a brutal murder took place in an apartment in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, where a man murdered his friend of the same age in a horrific manner.


What came as a particular shock was that the perpetrator killed the victim through overkill and then roamed the streets naked for about an hour, covered in blood. During this process, he was captured stopping by a convenience store without paying, walking out with a banana-flavored milk, and casually passing by a police car that was on its way to arrest him.

The perpetrator who stabbed his 20-something friend, Heo Min-seok, who had been his friend for 10 years, in some 50 places all over his body—including his face, neck, abdomen, arms, and legs—leaving bite marks deep enough to tear off flesh, was identified as Jeong Jae-hwan, also in his 20s.

Jeong Jae-hwan claims that he was drunk and cannot remember the circumstances or the motive of the crime. To this day, he continues to play dumb and offer no answers.


However, before his death, Heo had called friends in Daegu asking them to help him, and a 21-minute audio recording of the phone conversation while these friends were on their way to Jeong's home in Gyeongsan vividly captured the situation at the time of the incident.

Heo repeatedly apologized while expressing his agony. He also trembled with anxiety, saying, "Jae-hwan, it feels like my intestines are going to pop out. My intestines are coming out." Yet Jeong Jae-hwan did not stop his attack, letting out an eerie laugh.

Meanwhile, another friend surnamed Ko, who was at the scene and had also been assaulted by Jeong, recalled nothing of the situation due to intoxication, causing much regret. Jeong had escalated the level of violence against Heo only after Ko moved to another room to sleep.

Additionally, two large plastic bags of unknown purpose were found at the scene, leading friends to suspect they might have been intended for corpse mutilation or abandonment.

An expert analyzed the recording containing the situation at the time of the crime and noted that victimization likely took place even before the recording started. The expert also expressed regret, pointing out that faint groans indicating Heo was still alive could be heard even after the moment Jeong Jae-hwan was recorded leaving the house.


Furthermore, the expert delivered a shock by analyzing that Jeong appeared to have taken a verification photo of the victim after the crime, as the voice of Jeong saying, "Min-seok, kimchi," could be heard.

Jeong Jae-hwan had a history of showing violent tendencies after drinking in the past. Without any provocation, he would assault acquaintances or his own pets, and at times engage in self-harm. He would then display striking emotional swings, laughing or crying.

However, analyzing Jeong's behavior captured on CCTV, an expert concluded that he was neither extremely drunk nor physically incapacitated at the time of the crime.

This was evident from the fact that right before his arrest, Jeong even asked a friend to send a luxury watch worth tens of millions of won and 20 million won in cash to his mother.


Jeong Jae-hwan had never held a steady job. Acquaintances testified that he seemed to have suddenly become rich after staying briefly in Seoul and Southeast Asia for work.

Moving into a new three-room apartment, Jeong kept a safe and a cash counting machine at home. He flaunted his wealth by purchasing expensive luxury goods and repeatedly swapping supercars. Consequently, acquaintances suspected he had worked as a cash withdrawal agent for an illegal gambling site. It also came to light as a shock that his mother cared more about the luxury watch and Jeong Jae-hwan than about the victim and the bereaved family.

Exempted from mandatory military service due to a judgment of destructive impulse control disorder and conduct disorder, Jeong was analyzed by an expert who stated, "Even if someone is a psychopath, they fear social punishment. He is not the type to be submissive." The expert added, "It seems like he enjoyed watching the victim suffer. Extreme anger and excitement—the perpetrator appears to have felt this as a form of pleasure."


Jeong had shown violence since his adolescence, but experts guessed there must have been a distinct trigger that exploded his violent nature.

Having assaulted acquaintances since adulthood, Jeong was always managed and restrained by the victim, Heo. An expert explained, "The victim probably felt like someone suppressing his omnipotence and desire for control. It appears to be a personality that could not tolerate people blocking his violent tendencies or those approaching him with goodwill trying to stop his behavior."

It also drew attention as the expert analyzed that failing to receive proper education at the right time and being abandoned by his parents seemed to have chronicled his inability to control impulses.

(Reported by Kim Hyo-jung)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.