About 47,000 people joined a petition asking the court to sentence "the high school girl's killer," Jang Yun-gi, 23, to the maximum sentence allowed by law.
According to the memorial group for the late student Lee Chae-won on the 11th, 47,268 people had signed the petition demanding a heavy punishment for Jang Yun-gi as of 4 p.m. the previous day. There were 41,452 online signatures and 5,816 offline signatures from local residents.
By age, people in their 20s accounted for 41.1% (17,020), the largest share. Those in their teens and younger also participated at 19% (7,863).
The memorial group plans to submit the first petition to the court on the 31st and to file a second petition at the end of next month that includes additional collected signatures.
The memorial group said, "The fact that so many people came together in a short time shows the public outrage over this case and the desire to realize justice," and added, "Please continue to participate so we can reach the first goal of 50,000 people."
Jang Yun-gi was sent to trial on charges including approaching Lee Chae-won, who was on her way home, for the purpose of committing a sex crime and then killing her with a knife on May 5 on a road in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju. He also faces charges of attempting to kill a male high school student who ran over after hearing screams by stabbing him with a knife; imprisoning and raping a foreign female coworker; and secretly filming parts of a middle school student's body on seven occasions in June–July last year while serving as a social service agent.
The sentencing hearing for Jang Yun-gi will be held at 2 p.m. on the 31st at the Gwangju District Court.