Over 40,000 Sign Petition Urging Death Penalty for High School Girl Murderer Jang Yoon-gi

Around 40,000 people have agreed to an online petition calling for the maximum legal sentence to be handed down to Jang Yoon-gi, filed by the bereaved family of the high school victim in the "Jang Yoon-gi case" and civic groups.

According to the Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Alliance today (August 11), 47,268 people had participated as of yesterday in the online petition titled "Petition for Severe Punishment of Defendant Jang Yoon-gi in the Case of the Late Student Lee Chae-won," which was posted by the alliance and the bereaved family on June 20.

Participants signed the petition with the intent that Jang Yoon-gi, who committed the murder, should be sentenced to death—the maximum penalty under the law—to hold him accountable in a manner commensurate with the unjust death of the female high school student.

By age group, those in their 20s accounted for the largest share with 17,020 people (41.1%), followed by teenagers and younger with 7,863 people (19%), those in their 30s with 6,150 people (14.8%), and those in their 40s with 2,003 people (4.8%).

By region, participants included 10,757 people from Gyeonggi Province (26%), 9,772 from Seoul (23.6%), 4,564 from Gwangju and South Jeolla Province (11%), 2,436 from Incheon (5.9%), and 1,961 from Busan (4.7%).

In the comments left along with their signatures, participants demanded severe punishment, expressed condolences for the victim and comfort for the bereaved family, called for prevention measures and the establishment of social safety nets, and urged strict investigations into anyone involved in the case.

In the notice guiding people to participate in the petition, the bereaved family wrote, "We cannot shake off the fear that if the perpetrator returns to society, he may commit unachieved crimes against someone else," adding, "Please protect our society so that no more innocent victims are created."

The Memorial Alliance plans to submit the petition and statement containing these opinions to the Gwangju District Court prior to the trial of the Jang Yoon-gi case scheduled for August 31.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.