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Teacher who killed 7-year-old hinted at crime in phone call with husband

Published: 08 Apr. 2025, 20:15

48-year-old elementary school teacher Myeong Jae-wan, accused of fatally stabbing seven-year-old Kim Ha-neul at an elementary school in Daejeon [DAEJEON METROPOLITAN POLICE]

The 48-year-old elementary school teacher accused of fatally stabbing seven-year-old Kim Ha-neul at an elementary school in Daejeon reportedly made comments hinting at the crime during a phone call with her husband shortly before the incident.

According to the indictment obtained by People Power Party (PPP) lawmaker Joo Jin-woo from the Ministry of Justice, the killer — whose name is Myeong Jae-wan — called her husband around 3:14 p.m. on Feb. 10 — roughly 90 minutes before the crime — and said, “Let me just get any one of them."

“I can’t be the only one to suffer. I’ll make at least one more person suffer," she reportedly told her husband, hinting at her crime.

During the same call, Myeong said, “If I go to prison, what happens to our house? Do I compensate the victim with my own money?”

She then reportedly spent over an hour surveying the classroom across from the school’s audiovisual room, selecting a potential victim by 4:20 p.m.

Between 4:40 p.m. and 4:47 p.m., Myeong lured Kim, a first-grade student leaving the classroom, into the audiovisual room and killed her with a knife that had been purchased in advance.

A citizen reads an online news article about Myeong Jae-wan, an alleged stabber of a 7-year-old elementary school student, on March 12 in Daejeon. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The indictment does not include details about the husband's response during the call. However, according to police, he attempted to stop the crime by urging Myeong to return home and threatening to alert the police.

Authorities concluded that while the husband did not act more decisively, his response did not constitute aiding or abetting, and he was not charged.

Prosecutors stated that Myeong had extensively researched methods of committing murder. On the day of the crime, she searched for terms like “Incheon elementary school murder case” and “elementary school student murder.” Four days earlier, on Feb. 6, she had spent more than four hours looking up searches such as “how to kill a person” and “medical student murder case.”

Investigators classified the crime as one of "abnormal motivation driven by latent anxiety and anger." They believe Myeong, who had been suffering from psychological issues including depression and insomnia since 2018, committed the murder as a way of releasing deep-seated rage triggered by domestic conflict and difficulty readjusting to work after a rushed return from leave.

Due to the brutality of the attack and its impact on the victim’s family, Daejeon police publicly released Myeong’s identity and profile on March 12. Her profile remains posted on the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency website and will be available until Friday.

Myeong was indicted on March 27 and remains in custody. His first trial is scheduled for May 28.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.

BY JANG GU-SEUL [[email protected]]