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Appellate court reverses conviction of father, daughter accused of killing two with poisoned rice wine

Published: 28 Oct. 2025, 17:31

The father and daughter accused in the cyanide makgeolli case walk into Gwangju High Court in Gwangju on Oct. 28 for their retrial verdict hearing. [YONHAP]

A Gwangju court on Tuesday acquitted a father and daughter previously convicted in the so-called “cyanide makgeolli” case, in which two people died and two others were seriously injured after drinking poisoned rice wine in 2009.

The Gwangju High Court overturned an earlier ruling that had sentenced the 75-year-old father to life in prison and his 41-year-old daughter to 20 years. The court accepted the defendants’ claim that prosecutors had coerced their confessions during the investigation.

The case stemmed from a July 6, 2009, incident in Suncheon, South Jeolla, where several residents drank makgeolli — a traditional Korean rice wine — that had been laced with cyanide. Two people died, and two others were hospitalized with severe poisoning symptoms.

Prosecutors accused the father and daughter of distributing the toxic drink, which included a serving to the woman who was both the man’s wife and the daughter’s mother.

At the time, the father was illiterate, and the daughter was found to have borderline intellectual functioning. Prosecutors alleged the two had an improper relationship and killed the woman to conceal it.

A lower court initially acquitted both defendants, citing doubts about the credibility of their statements. An appellate court later reversed that verdict and imposed heavy prison sentences. But in September last year, the Supreme Court ordered a retrial, citing prosecutorial misconduct and possible abuse of authority during the investigation.

In the retrial, the high court ruled that the confessions had been obtained under coercion and dismissed them as unreliable, acquitting both defendants.

The prosecution said it would review the ruling before deciding whether to appeal to the Supreme Court.

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 HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]