A man in his 40s who killed his girlfriend and hid the body in a kimchi refrigerator for nearly a year appealed after being sentenced to 30 years in prison in the first trial. Prosecutors also filed an appeal, saying the sentence was "too light and therefore unjust."
According to legal sources on the 6th, A, 41, who was indicted on charges including murder and abandonment of a body, submitted an appeal to the court the previous day. Prosecutors had sought life imprisonment for A, but the first trial handed down a 30-year prison term.
A was brought to trial on charges of strangling to death his girlfriend B, whom he had dated for four years, at a low-rise apartment in Jochon-dong, Gunsan, on Oct. 20, 2024, and abandoning the body in a kimchi refrigerator. He is also accused of taking out about 88 million won in loans under the deceased B's name and using the money for living expenses.
During the investigation, it was also revealed that after the crime, A used B's mobile phone to exchange messages with family members, creating the appearance that B was still alive.
At the sentencing hearing on the 29th of last month, the first trial panel sentenced A to 30 years in prison, noting, "The defendant abandoned the victim's body in a cold kimchi refrigerator for 11 months, damaging even the deceased's final dignity."