Jang Yun-gi is escorted into the courtroom. [Pool/Yonhap]
Jang Yun-gi is escorted into the courtroom. [Pool/Yonhap]

The family of a teenage girl murdered by Jang Yun-gi, 23, said Wednesday they "can never accept" the life sentence handed down in his first trial.

The family expressed strong opposition to the court's decision not to impose the maximum penalty.

The victim's family and their legal representatives held a press conference outside the Gwangju District Court on Wednesday afternoon, after the first-instance sentencing concluded. They said the law should be amended to make parole-ineligible life imprisonment mandatory if the death penalty is not imposed, so that violent criminals are permanently removed from society.

"We have been shattered once again by the court's ruling," they said. "Our hearts as parents are being torn apart at this very moment, yet the court did not sentence Jang Yun-gi — who brutally took a life — to death, the maximum penalty under the law. This ruling prioritized the rights of an unrepentant criminal while disregarding the grief of the victim's family."

They also said they "cannot contain their outrage at the conduct of police who attempted to destroy evidence," adding that they would not give up on keeping the promise they made to their beloved daughter.

The family's legal representative said the ruling was unacceptable and planned to ask prosecutors to appeal.

Attorney Kim Mun-seok said he would "immediately request that prosecutors appeal the first-instance ruling" and would "thoroughly analyze the original judgment to seek a death sentence rather than life imprisonment."

The 13th Criminal Division of the Gwangju District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Lee Jeong-ho, sentenced Jang on Wednesday to life in prison on charges including rape-murder under the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment of Sexual Violence Crimes.

The court also ordered Jang to wear an electronic monitoring anklet and barred him from working at institutions serving children, adolescents and people with disabilities for 10 years.

Court: 'S. Korea is a de facto abolitionist state'

The family of victim Lee Chae-won speaks outside the Gwangju District Court on Wednesday afternoon after Jang Yun-gi was sentenced to life in prison. [Yonhap]
The family of victim Lee Chae-won speaks outside the Gwangju District Court on Wednesday afternoon after Jang Yun-gi was sentenced to life in prison. [Yonhap]

The court found the defendant guilty on all counts, saying the prosecution's argument that he must be permanently removed from society was valid.

However, in explaining the sentencing, the court cited the fact that "South Korea is a de facto abolitionist state, there is no absolute life sentence without parole to bridge the gap between the death penalty and life imprisonment, and Supreme Court precedent" as factors it considered.

Jang stood trial on charges of kidnapping Lee, 16, a second-year high school student, at around 12:10 a.m. on May 5 on a street in Wolge-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, as she was returning home, then attempting to sexually assault her before killing her when he failed.

Jang also attacked a male second-year high school student who came running after hearing screams.

His criminal record also included stalking and sexually assaulting a female coworker two days before the killing, and secretly filming the bodies of teenage girls while serving as a social service worker.

Prosecutors had initially received the case as a general homicide under the Criminal Act, conducted a supplementary investigation to establish Jang's sexual-crime motive — including kidnapping and sexual assault — and indicted him on charges of rape-murder.

Prosecutors, who had sought the death penalty, said they would carefully analyze the ruling before deciding whether to appeal.

Throughout the trial, Jang admitted to all charges and submitted letters of remorse on three separate occasions.

Family members of the victim who were present in the courtroom wept as Jang was led away after the verdict was read.

The family had staged multiple one-person protests outside the courthouse urging the court to impose the death penalty, and submitted a petition signed by approximately 100,000 citizens who supported their cause.

Jang appeared in court Wednesday wearing a light ochre short-sleeved prison uniform. Throughout the roughly 20-minute sentencing hearing, he kept his head bowed and stared at the table in front of him, at times twisting his fingers or shifting his weight to one leg.


yul@heraldcorp.com