A man who stalked and fatally stabbed a woman he had never met in a rural South Korean town has been sentenced to life in prison after courts rejected claims that his intellectual disability should reduce his culpability.
The case began on the night of March 2, 2025, when police in Seocheon County, South Chungcheong Province, received a report that a woman in her 40s had not returned home after going out for exercise. Her body was discovered at 3:45 a.m. the following morning in a vacant lot near her home.
CCTV footage obtained by investigators revealed the sequence of events. The suspect, wearing a black hooded jacket, was seen pacing the sidewalk for more than an hour as if searching for a target. When the victim approached carrying an umbrella, the man appeared to speak to her before following her off camera. Approximately 10 minutes later, only her umbrella remained on the road.
Police arrested the suspect, later identified as 34-year-old Lee Ji-hyun, at his residence the following morning. Lee, who had worked as a caregiver for disabled individuals in the area, told investigators he committed the crime because he was stressed after losing money in a fraud scheme.
Prosecutors charged Lee with murder and attempted murder after CCTV analysis showed he had pursued another woman shortly before the fatal attack. Evidence presented at trial showed Lee had prepared a weapon and wool gloves to prevent fingerprints, conducted reconnaissance of the crime scene, and left a note stating he would "kill everyone."
The Daejeon District Court sentenced Lee to life imprisonment in July, finding the crime was "meticulously planned." The court rejected defense arguments citing Lee's intellectual disability, noting he had provided detailed statements about the crime and prepared tools in advance.
The Daejeon High Court upheld the sentence on November 7, though both courts declined prosecutors' request for electronic monitoring, citing insufficient grounds regarding recidivism risk.
Following the incident, Seocheon County announced plans to expand CCTV coverage and install LED security lights in crime-vulnerable areas, while also launching psychological support programs for the victim's family and local residents.
The Ministry of Justice said in September it would strengthen supervision of high-risk individuals on probation to address so-called "abnormal motive crimes," which police statistics show numbered 46 cases in 2023 and 42 in 2024.
