20-year sentence for 'Busan roundhouse kick' assailant upheld by top court

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20-year sentence for 'Busan roundhouse kick' assailant upheld by top court

  • 기자 사진
  • SARAH KIM
The man convicted of the attempted murder and sexual assault of a woman in her 20s leaves Busan High Court after being sentenced to 20 years in prison by the appellate court on June 12. The Supreme Court upheld the decision Thursday. [YONHAP]

The man convicted of the attempted murder and sexual assault of a woman in her 20s leaves Busan High Court after being sentenced to 20 years in prison by the appellate court on June 12. The Supreme Court upheld the decision Thursday. [YONHAP]

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a 20-year prison sentence for the assailant in the so-called "Busan roundhouse kick case," convicted for attempting to rape and murder a woman in her 20s last year.  
 
The top court also upheld an order to disclose the personal information of the 31-year-old assailant, identified by his family name of Lee, on public communications networks for 10 years. Additionally, it issued a 10-year employment ban at institutions related to children or young people, as well as organizations related to the disabled.
 
He will be required to wear an electronic tracking device for 20 years.  
 
On May 22, 2022, Lee knocked down the woman, a random stranger, with a roundhouse kick to the back of her head in the hallway of the first floor of her apartment building in Busanjin District. He kept assaulting her, striking her head repeatedly until she lost consciousness.
 
The incident ignited much public fury after the man was initially sentenced to only 12 years by a lower court in October 2022 after his conviction for attempted murder. An appellate court in June convicted him on an additional charge of attempted rape.  
 
On the day of the crime, the assailant had tailed the young woman for around 10 minutes, following her to her home at dawn. After knocking her out, he is accused of dragging her to a blind spot that could not be captured by CCTV. He allegedly tried to take off her clothes and sexually assault her. He escaped from the building seven minutes later.  
 
During the appeal process, prosecutors found additional evidence such as the assailant's DNA inside and outside the victim's jeans and her cardigan.  
 
On June 12, the Busan High Court handed a 20-year prison sentence to the assailant, recognizing the charge of attempted sexual assault, on top of murder.
 
However, this still fell short of the prosecution's recommendation of 35 years.  
 
The court said that CCTV footage showed that Lee had kicked the victim in a vital area and attempted to sexually assault even after she lost consciousness.  
 
Since Lee has a previous record of assault, robbery and trespassing, the court assessed him to be a recidivism risk.
 
Lee appealed, but the Supreme Court on Thursday sided with the Busan High Court.
 
In its decision, the court said the incident has left the victim with permanent disabilities.  
 
Through the top court's decision, Lee's personal information will soon be disclosed on the public sex offender database.  
 
The widespread public attention that the case garnered sparked debate on improving the personal information disclosure system for criminals and strengthening the victim's right to appeal.
 
The incident also saw a rise in copycat crimes, such as 30-year-old Choi Yoon-jong's sexual assault and murder of a woman on a trail in Sillim-dong, Gwanak District in Seoul last month.
 
Choi told police that he had planned the crime "after seeing the Busan roundhouse kick incident."
 
Lee's victim told reporters Thursday after the Supreme Court ruling that her assailant "didn't admit to his serious crime until the end," sharing her fears that when he is released from prison, he would still be around 50.  
 
"If I thought this was just a personal problem, I wouldn't have fought for this long," she said. "Abolishing lenient sentencing standards is the biggest preventive measure against copycat crimes."  
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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