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Father convicted of beating 5th-grade son to death appeals to Supreme Court

Published: 11 Oct. 2025, 13:42 Updated: 13 Oct. 2025, 16:20

Seoul High Court [YONHAP]

A man in his 40s who was convicted of fatally beating his 11-year-old son has appealed to the Supreme Court, despite receiving a reduced sentence in his appellate trial.

The lawyer for the 43-year-old defendant filed a petition to appeal with the Seoul High Court's Incheon branch, challenging the appellate ruling that upheld his conviction under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Child Abuse Crimes, according to legal sources on Saturday.

During the appellate proceedings, the defendant argued that the initial sentence was “excessively harsh and unfair,” though the specific grounds for his Supreme Court appeal have not yet been disclosed.

He was sentenced to 12 years in prison in the first trial, which was reduced to 11 years on appeal.

The defendant was indicted for striking his fifth-grade son with a baseball bat at their apartment in Yeonsu District, Incheon on Jan. 16, resulting in the child's death.

He called emergency services the following morning, saying that his son was “not breathing.” The child was transported to a hospital with bruises across his body and died from traumatic shock.

During the trial, the man claimed he had been disciplining his son over repeated lying and “never imagined he would die.”

The defendant is reportedly 180 centimeters tall and weighs around 100 kilograms. He was known to have played baseball in high school.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]