Kim Dong-hwan [Yonhap]
Kim Dong-hwan [Yonhap]

Kim Dong-hwan, 49, who killed a fellow airline captain and plotted to murder several other colleagues, has appealed his first-instance life sentence.

Kim filed the appeal with the Busan District Court on Friday, according to Yonhap.

Prosecutors did not appeal, as the court handed down the life sentence they had sought at the final hearing.

The Busan District Court's Criminal Division 7 sentenced Kim to life in prison on Friday on charges including murder, attempted murder and preparation for murder.

The court also ordered Kim to wear an electronic monitoring anklet for 30 years.

The court found that Kim had meticulously planned the crimes — drafting a murder plan, purchasing weapons, tailing his intended victims to identify their home addresses and scouting out potential crime scenes.

The court also noted that Kim posed a high risk of reoffending and required psychiatric treatment, ruling that "he must be permanently removed from society to prevent further harm to the lives of ordinary people living in our community."

Kim was indicted on charges of stabbing Captain A, a former colleague, multiple times at an apartment in Busanjin-gu, Busan, at around 5:30 a.m. on March 17, killing him.

Kim had identified six former coworkers, including Captain A, as targets and drawn up detailed plans to kill them.

The day before killing Captain A, Kim attempted to strangle another former colleague, Captain B, in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, but failed. After killing Captain A, he traveled to the home of a third former colleague, Captain C, in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, in preparation for further attacks.


husn7@heraldcorp.com