Kim Sang-su, charged with killing ex-partner who reported him for stalking, claims act was impulsive, not retaliatory

Kim Sang-su, 52, who is accused of killing his former partner with a knife after she reported him for stalking, denied at his first trial hearing that the killing was an act of retaliation.

At the opening trial session held Thursday before the first criminal division of the Suwon District Court's Seongnam Branch, presided over by Chief Judge Kim Kyung-hoon, Kim's defense attorney acknowledged the killing but argued it was an impulsive act, not one carried out for retaliatory purposes. The charges include violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — covering retaliatory murder — and the Act on Punishment of Stalking Crimes.

Kim was indicted and detained on charges of stabbing to death a woman in her 60s with a knife he had prepared in advance at around 3 a.m. on July 5 in Sangdaewon-dong, Jungwon-gu, Seongnam, after the two had ended a four-year relationship.

Investigators found that a court had issued provisional measures against Kim under stalking crime law — a prohibition on approaching within 100 meters of the victim and a ban on contact through electronic communications — following a complaint she had filed against him.

Kim purchased the knife and carried out the attack after his stalking case was forwarded from police to prosecutors, according to the investigation.

Police disclosed Kim's name, age and photo on Aug. 25 after a personal information disclosure review committee deliberated on the severity and brutality of the crime.

The disclosure had been delayed because Kim contested it.

Under the current Act on Disclosure of Personal Information of Serious Criminals, suspects who do not consent to the release of their personal information are entitled to a grace period of at least five days.

The Seongnam Branch of the Suwon District Prosecutors Office indicted Kim on Sept. 3, with the second criminal division — led by Chief Prosecutor Gu Min-gi — also requesting that he be fitted with an electronic ankle bracelet and placed under probation.

A spokesperson for the Seongnam branch said at the time that the office would "respond sternly to serious crimes that threaten the safety of people's daily lives and society, and do its utmost to maintain the prosecution."

The spokesperson added that the office would "actively communicate with relevant agencies to ensure there are no gaps in supporting and helping crime victims, including bereaved families, recover."

Meanwhile, the Korean National Police Agency said the number of stalking and domestic violence suspects arrested from January through August this year reached 43,788 — up 41.6 percent from 30,924 during the same period last year.

The number of suspects taken into detention also rose 15.1 percent, from 729 to 839, while the number of custody decisions climbed 47.1 percent, from 607 to 893.

Orders to attach electronic monitoring devices to stalking suspects nearly quintupled, rising from 155 to 757.