The family of a teenage high school girl who was killed in a knife attack in downtown Gwangju has released her name and photo. The family hopes people will remember her not as "the high school student victim A" but as Lee Chae-won.
According to the Gwangju Ilbo and MBC on the 1st, the father of the late Lee Chae-won (17), a person surnamed Lee, said, "I decided to go public hoping that Chae-won's name would be remembered more than the incident and that the same tragedy would not be repeated."
They say the room Chae-won used remains just as it was on the day of the incident. Her school uniform hangs on a hanger, and textbooks and supplies sit neatly arranged on the desk. Music Chae-won often listened to in her lifetime flows from her tablet.
Her father, Lee, said he still cannot forget the day of the incident. His daughter usually texted when she got home after academy classes, but there was no message that day. He was anxious when she did not pick up his calls, but he said he did not imagine she had fallen victim to a violent crime until he heard from police.
Lee said, "Even when I rushed to the hospital, I thought it was a traffic accident," and added, "I still struggle to sleep, thinking that as a parent I couldn't do anything."
Chae-won hoped to study emergency rescue and dreamed of saving lives. The family said her goal was so clear that she researched admissions counseling herself and prepared her career path.
Her father recalled, "She was so good that there was barely a period you could call adolescence," adding, "She almost never got angry with her parents or caused trouble."
The family also called for stern punishment of the assailant. Her mother, a person surnamed Choi, said, "In the end, the only people who can raise their voices to prevent this from happening again are the parents," adding, "All we can do for our daughter is to make sure she is not forgotten."
The Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Solidarity plans to hold a memorial service to mark the 49th day after Chae-won's death.
On the morning of the 5th, near a university sidewalk in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, Chae-won died after being stabbed by a knife wielded by Jang Yun-gi (23). A male high school student who witnessed the scene and ran to help was also seriously injured.
Police released the identity information of Jang Yun-gi, who was arrested on charges of murder and attempted murder, and prosecutors are continuing to investigate the circumstances of the crime and whether it was premeditated.