Video of police casually walking to scene of Changwon motel murders stirs controversy

Footage of police responding to last December's Changwon motel murders — in which a man killed two middle school students — has gone viral, drawing sharp criticism over what families say was a dangerously slow response. Bereaved relatives are demanding a thorough investigation into the police's handling of the incident.

The video, titled "Police initial response to the Changwon motel middle school murder case," began circulating online recently. A caption in the footage identifies it as material "provided by the father of a victim" and describes it as video the victims' families obtained with great difficulty.

The incident occurred on Dec. 3 last year, when a man in his 20s identified as Person A attacked three middle school students with a bladed weapon at a motel in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, killing two and seriously injuring a third before jumping from a window to his death.

The footage shows five officers walking up a staircase at a leisurely pace. On-screen captions note that the children were bleeding from stab wounds at that moment, and that a "Code Zero" — the highest-level emergency dispatch, reserved for situations of immediate threat to life such as murders, armed rampages and hostage situations — had been issued.

The video notes that the victims had risked their lives to call 112 twice, providing the motel's name and room number each time.

The officers' unhurried demeanor amid a life-or-death emergency drew a torrent of criticism online. Commenters wrote: "They look like office workers picking their teeth after lunch," "Would they have acted that way if it were their own family?" "Any parent watching this video would weep tears of blood," "That's not even negligence — what is that composure?" and "I wish the president could see this footage."

Meanwhile, Person A had met the female middle school student who died through an open chat app and lured her to the motel. He then turned his weapon on male students who went to the motel to rescue her.

Person A had previously been convicted twice of sex crimes against middle school girls he met through social media, raising questions about whether the state's failure to monitor him allowed the killings to occur. His second offense, in 2019, was a repeat crime serious enough to draw a five-year prison sentence, yet the court declined to order electronic monitoring, citing a "low risk of reoffending." He was also registered on the sex offender notification system as residing at a goshiwon — a type of small single-room lodging — in Changwon's Uichang-gu, but was not actually living there, meaning his probation supervision had effectively broken down.

On the day of the killings, Person A had been brought in for questioning roughly five hours before the attack on charges of aggravated intimidation after showing up at the home of a woman in her 20s he was dating while carrying a bladed weapon. Police released him after about two hours, determining that the conditions for emergency arrest had not been met.

The families of the middle school victims have filed a lawsuit against the state seeking 500 million won ($325,000) in damages.

김호중 ‘가석방’에 ‘멜론 50억 달성’ 겹경사…누리꾼 반응은 ‘싸늘’

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