A 30-year prison sentence has been finalized for a man in his 40s who murdered his girlfriend and stored her body in a kimchi refrigerator for nearly a year.

According to legal circles on September 23, the Supreme Court's Division 1 (Presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) finalized the lower court's ruling against a defendant identified as A, who was indicted on charges of murder, abandonment of a corpse, and computer fraud.

Defendant A was put on trial for strangling his girlfriend of four years, identified as B, to death in a villa in Gunsan in October 2024 and abandoning her body in a kimchi refrigerator.

Defendant A was also charged with taking out a loan of 88 million won in the name of the deceased victim B and using it for living expenses.

Following the crime, Defendant A used B's mobile phone to communicate with the deceased's family members, faking as if B was still alive.

The first trial sentenced him to 30 years in prison, stating, "He must be isolated from society for a long period by sentencing him to a heavy punishment."

The first instance court pointed out, "By abandoning the victim's body in a cold kimchi refrigerator for 11 months, he dishonored the deceased victim and damaged even her final dignity."

The second instance court also maintained the 30-year prison sentence, stating, "Although the defendant deposited 15 million won for the victim's family during the second trial, the bereaved family refused to accept it and submitted a consent form for retrieval. Considering the method of the crime and the extent of the damage in this case, the deposit alone does not appear to be a circumstance that warrants favorably modifying the sentence."

Defendant A appealed once again, but the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, ruling that there were no errors in this judgment.