[Anchor]

Jang Yoon-ki, who attempted to kidnap a high school girl for sexual assault and subsequently murdered her, has been sentenced to life in prison in the first trial. The family of the victim, Lee Chae-won, who had pleaded for the death penalty, protested that they could not accept the verdict.

This report is from reporter Dong Eunyeong.

[Reporter]

Wearing a khaki prisoner uniform and a blank expression, Jang Yoon-ki enters the Gwangju District Court for his first-trial sentencing hearing.

The prosecution, which indicted Jang on charges including rape and murder—punishable only by death or life imprisonment—had previously demanded the death penalty during the sentencing hearing.

The first-instance court recognized all charges against him as guilty, stating that the crime was ruthless and cruel, inflicting indelible pain on the victim and her family.

The court strongly rebuked Jang, noting that rather than showing genuine remorse or repentance, he exhibited an attitude of trying to evade the situation moment by moment.

The court also stated that it determined Jang must be permanently isolated from society, explaining that sentencing him to life imprisonment instead of the death penalty was the result of deep deliberation.

The court remarked, "Judges are human beings before they are judges," adding that it had pondered whether it would be right to hand down capital punishment, which strips away life, but ultimately took into consideration the fact that South Korea is a de facto abolitionist state regarding the death penalty.

However, the court noted that it explicitly stated in the judgment that parole should not be permitted as long as Jang remains alive.

While Jang showed little reaction at the moment the life sentence was handed down, the parents of the late Lee Chae-won—who recently held a one-person protest urging the death penalty—cried out, "I'm sorry, Chae-won," and could not stop sobbing.

[Mother of the late Lee Chae-won : I want to ask if the court even for a single moment properly grasped the horrific terror Chae-won must have felt in that terrifying moment, and the hellish sorrow left behind that her parents must carry for the rest of their lives. Why should the perpetrator be kept alive while the victim had to die?]

The bereaved family pointed out whether life imprisonment without the possibility of parole—if not a death sentence—should be institutionalized by law, and stated that they would request the prosecution to appeal.

(Video footage by Kim Hak-mo | Video editing by Lim Yeojin)