'Motel serial killer' Kim So-young tells court victims' families should pay legal costs, says damages 'too large to repay in a lifetime'

Kim So-young, 20, the suspect in the so-called Gangbuk motel serial killings, has filed a handwritten response with the court after victims' families sued her for damages, asking them to "claim only an amount I can repay by working for the rest of my life."

Attorney Nam Eon-ho, legal representative for the victims' families, obtained the document and shared it with Yonhap on Tuesday. In the response, submitted to the court in May, Kim wrote that the 12 percent late-payment interest attached to the claim "is a burden because it is a large amount I absolutely cannot pay." The families have filed a civil lawsuit seeking 30 million won ($19,900) in damages from Kim and her parents.

"The litigation costs should be borne by the plaintiffs," Kim wrote in the response. "The amount the plaintiffs are claiming is so large that I could not pay it even if I worked until I died."

Kim also argued that holding her parents liable was unreasonable. "I committed this crime as an adult, so demanding damages from my parents is absurd," she wrote.

Regarding her mother, Kim wrote that she "fully fulfilled her duty of care and supervision as a person with a support obligation" and therefore should not be subject to a damages claim.

She took a different position on her father, writing that he had "neglected me since I was a minor and caused me psychological harm through domestic violence and verbal abuse," and argued that only she and her father bore civil liability.

In a separate written opinion submitted to the criminal court, Kim said she "was shocked to hear that two oppa (older brothers; here referring to the victims) had died at the time of my arrest" and insisted she "had absolutely no intention or plan to kill them."

On her motive, Kim said the victims had subjected her to unwanted physical contact, triggering memories of a past sexual assault and leaving her afraid. "I deeply regret the brief thought of giving them drugs to stop the sexual harassment," she wrote.

Kim was indicted in March and placed in detention on charges of giving benzodiazepine-laced beverages to three men in their 20s between mid-December last year and February this year, killing two of them and rendering one unconscious.

Prosecutors later confirmed she had used the same method to injure three other men in April, and she faces additional charges of aggravated assault and violations of the Act on the Control of Narcotics.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 23.

Meanwhile, Kim scored 25 out of 40 on the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) administered during the police investigation.

The PCL-R consists of 20 items with a maximum score of 40. In South Korea, a score above 25 is generally used as the threshold for classifying someone as a psychopath.