'Sindang Station stalker killer' sentenced to 9 years in prison for stalking, illegally filming victim

Jeon Joo-hwan is transferred from Seoul Namdaemun Police Station to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Sept. 21. [NEWS1]

Jeon Joo-hwan, the “Sindang Station stalker killer,” was sentenced to nine years in prison on Thursday for stalking and illegally filming the woman he is charged with murdering.

No date has been set for Jeon's trial on charges of murder.

The 12th criminal division of the Seoul Western District Court sentenced Jeon to a nine-year prison term Thursday and ordered an additional 80 hours of treatment for stalking and 40 hours of sexual offence treatment programs.

Jeon, a Seoul Metro employee, was apprehended after a female colleague was fatally stabbed in the ladies' toilet in Sindang Station on Line No. 2 on Sept. 14, one day before a verdict was expected in his trial for stalking the victim.

Police disclosed the name, photo and birthdate of Jeon on Sept. 19 in accordance with the Special Act on the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes. Under it, personal information of criminals can be disclosed if the crime’s cruelty, gravity, and the people's right to know are satisfied. Ordinarily, suspects' names, and ages are not disclosed and photos are not made public.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]