Choi, a 26-year-old medical student surnamed Choi, who is accused of killing his girlfriend, a woman in her 20s identified as A, near Gangnam Station in Seoul, had his 30-year prison sentence finalized by the Supreme Court. This is the same ruling as the appellate court.
The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Shin Sook-hee) on the morning of the 11th upheld the appellate ruling that sentenced Choi, indicted on charges including murder, to 30 years in prison and five years of probation.
The bench dismissed both the prosecutor's and the defendant's appeals. The court said, "Considering the defendant's age, character and conduct, environment, relationship with the victim, the motive, means, and result of this crime, and the circumstances after the offense as shown in the record, it cannot be said that imposing a 30-year prison sentence is unjust."
Previously, on May 6, Choi was arrested and indicted on suspicion of taking A, who was in a romantic relationship with him, to the rooftop of a building near Gangnam Station in Seoul and stabbing her to death with a weapon. When conflict arose over their breakup, Choi decided to commit the crime and prepared a weapon in advance, according to the investigation.
Choi was known as a medical student who earned a perfect score on the College Scholastic Ability Test, and after the incident, his university handed down a "disciplinary expulsion." Disciplinary expulsion is a severe measure that also bars readmission.
Meanwhile, Choi was sentenced to 26 years in prison at trial court, which was increased to 30 years on appeal. At the time, the appellate panel said, "The defendant killed the victim with a cruel method under a meticulous plan," and added, "He did not receive forgiveness from the victim's family and made no effort toward restitution."
It continued, "On the contrary, he showed an attitude of shifting responsibility for the crime he committed onto the victim's family," explaining that "considering these factors together, the prosecutor's claim that the trial court's sentence is lenient has merit," and therefore increased the sentence.