Man kills ex-partner despite restraining order as police arrive in 3 minutes

A man in his 50s who had been barred from contacting his former partner stabbed and killed her after waiting outside her workplace, in a case that has renewed questions about the effectiveness of protective measures for stalking victims. The victim triggered an emergency alert through her smartwatch, and police arrived within three minutes — but could not save her.

According to Seongnam Jungwon Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, the suspect, identified only as A, stabbed the victim — a woman in her 60s identified as B — on a street in Sangdaewon-dong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, at around 3 a.m. Saturday.

B was rushed to a hospital but died from her injuries.

A attempted to harm himself immediately after the attack and is currently undergoing surgery.

Police said A had dated B for about four years until recently, and waited for her to finish her shift before carrying out the attack.

B had first reported A to police on June 8, saying her ex-boyfriend was harassing her, and requested that they be separated.

Police issued A a dating-violence warning notice and advised B to file a formal stalking complaint against him.

Two days later, after B submitted the complaint, police issued a no-contact and no-approach order against A and gave B a smartwatch to use in emergencies.

On the night of the attack, B activated the emergency function on her smartwatch the moment A assaulted her. Police arrived three minutes after receiving the alert and transported her to a hospital, but were unable to save her.

"When B first reported A, there was no evidence of physical violence," a police official said. "But after the warning notice was issued, we confirmed that A had sent her text messages, so we advised her to file a stalking complaint." The official added that police took the relevant protective measures immediately after the complaint was filed and forwarded the case to prosecutors on June 25.

Police plan to investigate the full circumstances and motive of the attack once A has recovered sufficiently from his injuries.

The case is expected to reignite debate over the effectiveness of the country's protective measures for stalking victims, given that a formal report, a restraining order and a smartwatch alert system all failed to prevent the fatal attack. Police said they would review the entire response process to identify any gaps that need to be addressed.