Prosecutors have appealed the life sentence handed down in the first trial for the Gangbuk motel serial murder case, arguing the punishment was insufficient.

The Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office announced today (the 2nd) that it filed an appeal against the first-instance verdict for Kim So-young (20), who was indicted on charges including murder, citing factual errors, misinterpretation of the law, and undue leniency in sentencing.

On the 27th of last month, the Seoul Northern District Court sentenced Kim to life imprisonment and ordered the attachment of a location-tracking electronic device for 30 years.

Prosecutors, who had previously sought the death penalty for Kim, appealed on the grounds that the sentence was too light given the gravity of her crimes.

The court had acquitted Kim of special bodily injury regarding one of the six victims. Prosecutors included factual error and misinterpretation of the law as grounds for their appeal on this count as well.

Immediately after the first-instance sentencing, the bereaved families of the victims met with reporters and stated that they planned to submit an opinion requesting the prosecutors to appeal.

Previously, the defendant Kim also appealed the verdict on the 28th of last month, just a day after the sentencing.

Kim was indicted and detained in March on charges of handing drinks laced with benzodiazepine drugs to three men in their 20s from mid-December of last year to February of this year, resulting in the deaths of two and leaving one unconscious.

In April, she was additionally indicted on charges of inflicting injuries on three other men using a similar method.

(Photo provided by Seoul Northern District Prosecutors Office, Yonhap News)