Crime drama-obsessed South Korean woman who murdered ‘out of curiosity’ jailed for life

A crime drama-obsessed South Korean woman who killed a woman “out of curiosity” was sentenced to life imprisonment.

The court pronounced the judgment on Friday (Nov 24) even as the prosecutors sought the death penalty.

Jung Yoo-jung, 23, who is a loner and lives with her grandfather, has been looking for targets for months using a tutoring app. She wanted to try out murder after reading it about in novels and watching a lot of crime mystery shows.

Looked for potential victims though an app

In May, she tried the app and set up a meeting with an English-language tutor. She posed as a mother of a high school kid and met the 26-year-old woman in Busan.

According to police, she mainly preferred females and went over 50 potential victims asking for lessons at home, before finalising on the 26-year-old.

On that fateful day, Yoo-jung landed up at the tutor’s home dressed in a school uniform in Busan. She then stabbed the victim over 100 times, continuing even after she was already dead.

She then mutilated the victim’s body, packed parts of it into a suitcase, and changed into the victim’s clothes, Korea JoongAng Daily, the English edition of a major South Korean newspaper, reported citing the police.

She then took a taxi and dumped it in a wooded area by a river, leaving other parts of the body in her own home.

A taxi driver, who drove her to the area where she dumped the body, later tipped off the police after spotting blood stains on her clothes.

Tax driver tipped off 

During the investigation, police searched Jung's online browsing history which showed she had researched for months on how to kill somebody.

There were also CCTV cameras which captured the moment she entered and left the tutor’s place serval times. Police said that she was careless and made no effort to dodge the CCTV.

Also read | Antisemitic banners during pro-Palestinian march in London calling for permanent ceasefire in Gaza

During interrogation, Yoo-jung tried to dodge several times before eventually confessing to the crime in June.

On Friday, the Busan District Court judge said the killing had "spread fear in society that one can become a victim for no reason" and "incited a general distrust" among the community, reports BBC.

Also read | Israel-owned container ship comes under attack of Iranian drones: Report

Jung pleaded for a more lenient sentence, saying she had suffered hallucinations and other mental disorders at the time.

However, the court rejected her argument as the crime had been "carefully planned and carried out, and it is difficult to accept her claim of mental and physical disorder".

(With inputs from agencies)