Prosecutors have sought a life sentence for a man in his 20s charged with killing his girlfriend after she broke up with him.
The Seoul Eastern District Court's Criminal Division 11, presided over by Judge Ko Chung-jeong, held the final arguments hearing Wednesday for the suspect, identified only as Wang, 24, who is charged with murder. Prosecutors asked the court to sentence Wang to life in prison, and also requested five years of probation and 20 years of electronic ankle monitoring.
According to prosecutors, Wang beat the victim, identified only as A, over the head with a frying pan, attacked her with a bladed weapon and then strangled her with a phone charger cable at a residence in Gangdong-gu, Seoul, at around 3:30 a.m. on June 1, after she ended their relationship. Wang turned himself in at a police station in another district after the killing.
A digital forensic examination of Wang's phone revealed evidence of premeditation. Search records showed Wang had looked up terms including "hit in the head with a frying pan death," "location of the brain" and "skull structure" before the attack, and had visited a blog post titled "If you get hit in the head repeatedly… is the brain really OK?"
Wang admitted to all charges at an earlier hearing and again appealed for leniency at Wednesday's session. Defense counsel asked the court to consider that Wang had shown remorse, turned himself in and was still young, and also requested that the possibility of rehabilitation and treatment be taken into account.
The first-instance sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 11.
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