Yoonki Jang Indicted and Detained for High School Girl’s Murder... Charged with "Murder Involving Rape"

Prosecution Changes Charge from Ordinary Murder to Indictment and Detention for Murder Involving Rape

The crime committed by Yoonki Jang (23), who brutally murdered a high school girl he did not know in downtown Gwangju, has been revealed to be a premeditated crime. Contrary to the initial police assessment, it was a persistent attempt to kidnap the victim for the purpose of sexual assault. The prosecution, after conducting a supplementary investigation, fully uncovered Jang's distorted sexual mindset and history of serial offenses. As a result, he has been indicted and detained on charges of "murder involving rape," which carries a much heavier sentence than ordinary murder.

On June 2, the Criminal Division 3 of the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Jinhee) announced that Jang had been indicted and detained on charges including violations of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (murder involving rape and sexual assault) and attempted murder.

Yoonki Jang (23) is being transferred to the prosecution from Gwangju Western Police Station on the morning of the 14th of last month. Photo by Yonhap News

Jang is accused of attempting to kidnap, for sexual purposes, 17-year-old second-year high school student Lee Chaewon, who was walking home alone on the pedestrian path near a high school in Wolgye-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju, at 12:11 a.m. on May 5, Children's Day, and fatally stabbing her. He is also charged with attempting to kill a male high school student (17) who rushed to help after hearing Lee's screams, but failed in the attempt.

Initially, the police referred Jang to the prosecution on charges of ordinary murder under the Criminal Act. However, after taking over the case, the prosecution conducted a thorough supplementary investigation and identified Jang's true motive. The prosecution rejected Jang's false claim that he committed the crime impulsively while contemplating suicide due to the emptiness of life, based on evidence such as enhanced vehicle dashcam footage, a second forensic examination of his mobile phone, a search of his residence, an interview with the medical examiner, and an integrated psychological analysis by the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office.

The prosecution’s investigation revealed that Jang’s crime was rooted in deeply distorted sexual perceptions. At his residence, a sex doll (adult product) was found mutilated into several pieces. It was also confirmed that, two days before killing the high school girl, in the early morning of May 3, Jang had broken into the home of a foreign female coworker, identified as Ms. A (in her 20s), sexually assaulted her, and held her captive for 13 hours.

After Ms. A escaped, reported stalking and sexual assault to the police, was placed under protective measures, and moved to another area, Jang purchased two weapons and gloves and roamed downtown Gwangju with the intent of revenge and venting his anger.

Unable to locate Ms. A, who had gone into hiding, Jang ultimately selected the innocent Lee as his target. He followed Lee as she walked at night for about 15 minutes, then grabbed her from behind by the neck, attempting to subdue her and forcibly drag her to his nearby parked vehicle. This method was identical to the one he used two days earlier when assaulting Ms. A. However, when Lee screamed for help and fiercely resisted, Jang brutally killed her with the weapon he carried.

Immediately after the crime, Jang washed his hands in a nearby restroom, abandoned his vehicle and the weapon, washed his blood-stained clothes at an unmanned laundromat, and hid in a vacant studio, meticulously attempting to evade capture. He was apprehended by the police, who had been lying in wait, when he went to retrieve a parcel of charcoal briquettes delivered to his home 11 hours after the incident.

During the supplementary investigation, the prosecution also uncovered that, between June and July of last year, while working as a social service worker at a local children's center, Jang had secretly filmed the bodies of others, including middle school girls, on seven occasions, in violation of the Act on Special Cases Concerning the Punishment, etc. of Sexual Crimes (illegal filming using a camera), and consolidated these charges into the indictment.

Jang’s personal information, including his date of birth and face, was already made public during the police investigation phase. Unlike ordinary murder (with a minimum sentence of five years in prison), he will now stand trial for the most serious charge of "murder involving rape," for which the statutory penalty is only either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Meanwhile, the family of the late Lee, in an effort to publicize their daughter's wrongful death and call for severe punishment for Jang, revealed her real name and portrait to the media the previous day. As news spread of Lee, who had dreamed of becoming an emergency medical technician, community mourning continues to grow.

An official from the Gwangju District Prosecutors’ Office stated, "We have urgently provided psychological counseling, funeral expenses, and living expenses to the victim’s family, and have also covered medical expenses and awarded a reward to the male student who was injured while acting bravely to help. We will do our utmost to maintain the indictment so that the maximum statutory sentence corresponding to the crime is imposed, and will fully guarantee the family’s right to make statements during the trial."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.