Jang Yun-gi Admits to 'Murder for Sexual Assault' in Court, 2 Months After Incident

Jang Yun-gi, the perpetrator of the Gwangju high school student murder, has admitted in court that he committed the crime for the purpose of sexual assault, two months after the incident occurred.

The Gwangju District Court's 13th Criminal Division (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-ho) held the second trial for Jang, who was indicted under detention on charges including murder following rape under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes, at 10:00 a.m. today (July 13).

Jang's public defender, who had deferred his response during the first trial regarding whether he admitted to the charge of murder for the purpose of rape, stated, "We admit to all the charges in the indictment."

When asked by the presiding judge if he agreed with his attorney's statement, Jang replied, "Yes."

This marks the first time Jang has admitted to the charge of murder following rape since his arrest on May 5, the day of the incident, through the prosecution's supplementary investigation and the trial phase.

Previously, Jang had claimed that the murder was an accidental act.

During the first trial, Jang had stated that he deferred his position on the charges because he had not yet reviewed the contents of the vehicle dashcam footage secured by the prosecution during their supplementary investigation.

Jang subsequently reviewed the dashcam footage with his attorney and submitted a written opinion to the court on July 10, acknowledging the intent to commit a sexual crime.

During the trial today, the prosecution announced it would apply to submit additional evidence, including footage from the scene inspection of Jang's vehicle, where a cable tie suspected to be a binding tool was identified, and a forensic report on a damaged sex doll found in his studio apartment.

The examination of some evidence, including video footage containing scenes of Jang's crime, was conducted behind closed doors due to the graphic nature of the content and to protect the privacy of the victim.

Jang was brought to trial on charges of attempting to kidnap a high school sophomore, the late Lee Chae-won, for the purpose of sexual assault on a walkway in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, around 12:10 a.m. on May 5, and stabbing her to death when the attempt failed.

Jang is also accused of wielding a weapon against a male high school sophomore who tried to help the victim at the scene of the murder, as well as stalking and sexually assaulting a Vietnamese woman in her 20s who was a former part-time work colleague.

The scandal has been growing daily as the prosecution and police have launched investigations following exclusive SBS reports alleging that Jang's father, a police officer surnamed Jang, personally destroyed key evidence such as the sex doll that would prove the motive for sexual assault, and that the police investigation team leaked information to the senior officer.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.