Med student gets 30 years for murder

[Anchor]

A medical student who murdered his girlfriend near Gangnam Station in Seoul last year has been sentenced to 30 years in prison by the appellate court.

The court increased the sentence from the first trial, stating that the method of the crime was brutal and that it was difficult to find any humanity in the defendant.

This is a report by Shin Hyun-wook.

[Report]

A man in his 20s, identified as Choi, is accused of murdering his girlfriend on the rooftop of a building near Gangnam Station in May last year.

At the time, he was a medical student and it was investigated that he wielded a weapon during a dispute over their breakup.

[Choi/Voice altered: "(Do you have anything to say to the victim's family?) I'm sorry."]

The Seoul High Court sentenced Choi to 30 years in prison, which is four years longer than the 26 years imposed in the first trial for the murder charge.

The court stated, "The crime was committed under a meticulous plan and the method was extremely brutal," adding, "There was a clear intent to kill the victim."

It further pointed out that Choi "showed a tendency to evade responsibility by shifting it onto the victim and her family without making any efforts for victim recovery," and that "the victim's family and acquaintances are expressing their pain and suffering, pleading for severe punishment."

Finding that a prison sentence alone was not enough to prevent future crimes, the court also imposed five years of probation—something the first trial had dismissed.

Previously, the prosecution requested the court to impose the death penalty in both the first and second trials, and the victim's mother and other family members appeared in court as witnesses to plead for severe punishment.

During the first trial, a mental evaluation was conducted at the request of Choi's side, and the evaluation concluded that he was not in a state of mental disorder at the time of the crime.

This is KBS News, Shin Hyun-wook.