Sindang Station killer sentenced to 40 years in prison

Social Affairs

Published: 07 Feb. 2023, 14:39 Updated: 07 Feb. 2023, 16:49

Sindang Station killer sentenced to 40 years in prison

Jeon Joo-hwan, the suspect in the subway murder case, talks to the press while being transferred from Seoul Namdaemun Police Station to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office on Sept. 21, 2022. [NEWS1]

A court sentenced Jeon Joo-hwan, the man accused of stalking and murdering a coworker at Sindang Station in Seoul, to 40 years of prison Tuesday.

The Seoul Central District Court’s verdict also requires the 31-year-old to wear an electronic tracking device for 15 years.

Jeon had been indicted for multiple charges, including the aggravated offense of revenge killing and violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

The court noted that even after the victim filed a lawsuit against him for stalking, Jeon showed no remorse and instead killed her in revenge.

“Jeon would likely commit a similar crime considering the cruelty of the killing and its premediated nature,” the court said. “Considering his statements, it seems that from the beginning, he planned to murder the victim if the two were unable to reach an agreement on the stalking case.”

Jeon murdered the victim the day before a sentence was expected in his stalking trial.

Police say Jeon, a Seoul Metro employee, accessed the company’s intranet multiple times since last August to find the victim’s address.

He was suspended from his job at the time.

He snuck into the building at the address several times and waited, but the victim had already moved. Eventually, he decided to go to her workplace.

“I have done what I should have never done, and I regret doing so,” Jeon said in his final remarks during a hearing last month. “I apologize for causing such pain to the victim’s family.”

Prosecutors had sought the death penalty against Jeon last month, arguing that Jeon “will likely commit extreme crimes like murder in the future due to his egocentrism when he feels anger against others."

Jeon was apprehended after a female colleague was fatally stabbed in the women's bathroom in Sindang Station, Line No. 2 on Sept. 14 of last year.

He admitted to committing the crime out of “resentment against the victim.”

In a separate case, Jeon was sentenced to nine years for stalking. He has appealed the decision.

Police disclosed the name, photo and birthdate of Jeon last year in accordance with the Special Act on the Punishment of Specific Violent Crimes.

Under it, the personal information of criminals can be disclosed if the crime’s cruelty, gravity and the people's right satisfy certain standards. Ordinarily, suspects' names and ages are not disclosed, and photos are not made public.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]