'How could a pregnant woman kill a child?' Murder of 8-year-old girl in 1997 shocks Korea.

In 1997, Jeon Hyeon-ju kidnapped and murdered eight-year-old Park Na-ri for ransom. Despite her pregnancy, she was sentenced to life imprisonment after changing her testimony regarding her involvement.

[KOREAN CRIME FILES #12]

Behind the glitz and glamour seen in pop culture, Korea’s grimmest and most harrowing crime stories, some more well-known than others, continue to haunt society today. The Korea JoongAng Daily takes a deep dive into some of these stories, sharing a glimpse into the darker side of society as well as the most up-to-date known facts. — Ed.

On the evening of Aug. 30, 1997, a telephone rang inside an apartment in Seocho District, an affluent neighborhood in southern Seoul.

The voice on the line was calm.

"Is this Na-ri's house?" the woman asked. "Na-ri is doing fine."

On the other end was a mother whose 8-year-old daughter had not come home after an English class earlier that day. The call came three hours after the mother reported her daughter missing.

The next day, the phone rang again.

“Bring a bank card with 20 million won [$14,000] in it,” the woman said.

“I only have cash,” the mother replied, her voice shaking.

“Then you will not be able to see your child,” the caller said and hung up.

Park Chorong Chorong Bitnari, 8, who was kidnapped and killed in 1997 [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Only later would the family learn that this was not a negotiation. Another call that night was traced to a cafe in Myeong-dong, central Seoul.

With no leads, police made the investigation public on Sept. 3. The missing child was Park Na-ri, a second-grade student at a nearby elementary school. Her full name was Park Chorong Chorong Bitnari.

A birthday without a child

Sept. 9 was Na-ri’s birthday. She was still missing. That day, Na-ri’s mother wrote her daughter a letter.

“Because I believe that if Na-ri were to call out for me even now, she would walk through our front door, I am holding on,” she wrote. “Wherever you are, please listen to the person you are with and pray that you can come home safely. Your mother, who loves you.” On Sept. 11, a 60-year-old man called the police who were tracking down the kidnapper.

"Why are you investigating around my house?" the man asked over the phone.

That day, the police were investigating near the home of the parents of Jeon Hyeon-ju, a 28-year-old pregnant woman. Officers told the caller, Jeon’s father, that his daughter was on their list of suspects.

Jeon was included on that list after police questioned 13 customers at a Myeong-dong coffee shop, where one of the ransom calls had been placed. At the time, Jeon was released after providing fingerprints and basic information. Officers believed a pregnant woman was unlikely to commit such a crime.

The father soon told police that his daughter had packed three travel bags and had been missing since Sept. 1. After officers shared a recording of the ransom call with him, he confirmed that the blackmailer’s voice was his daughter’s.

Police drag Jeon Hyeon-ju, the kidnapper and killer of Park Na-ri, 8, to Seocho Police Station in southern Seoul on Sept. 12, 1997.[JOONANG ILBO]

The day after her father came forward, police arrested Jeon at an inn in Sillim-dong, in Gwanak District, southern Seoul. Pesticides were found at the scene. Jeon later told police she had intended to kill herself. Her parents, according to reports, had urged her to do so before her arrest.

She was about a month from giving birth.

Based on Jeon’s testimony, police were dispatched to the basement office of her husband in Sadang-dong, Dongjak District. Her husband worked as a director of children’s theatrical productions.

An officer at the scene later said he nearly slipped on the floor because it was covered in blood.

Na-ri’s body was found inside a hiking backpack.

Why Na-ri

Jeon had grown up in relative privilege. Her father was a high-ranking government official, and she had studied in the United States. But while attending university in Korea, she fell in love with a man in her class, who also studied creative writing. Her parents strongly opposed the relationship.

The couple married without their families’ consent. Her husband did not have steady work, and she spent heavily. Jeon soon fell into severe financial hardship.

Jeon initially claimed there were other accomplices. She said two men had visited her husband’s office, sexually assaulted her and threatened to release photos and videos, ordering her to kidnap Na-ri.

Police later said her accounts were vivid and detailed, “as if they had actually happened.” But when investigators pressed her for specific information about the alleged accomplices, Jeon admitted the story was fabricated.

“I was on my way home after failing to buy maternity clothes at an underground shopping area at the Express Bus Terminal because I didn’t have enough money,” Jeon told police.

“That’s when I saw Na-ri,” she said. “She was eating an ice cream and threw the wrapper on the ground. I asked her why she threw it away.”

Then, she said, the thought occurred to her that she could take the child and demand money.

Jeon Hyeon-ju, left, reenacts the killing of 8-year-old Park Na-ri on Sept. 17, 1997. [JOONGANG ILBO]

She was wearing a nice green dress, Jeon recalled, which led Jeon to assume she was from an affluent family.

According to her testimony, Jeon brought Na-ri to the basement office and gave her two sleeping pills when the child complained of hunger.

“I truly did not think about killing her at that point,” Jeon told investigators.

As Jeon prepared to leave the office to call her parents, Na-ri began to stir. Jeon bound the child’s arms and legs with duct tape. When Na-ri started making noises, Jeon strangled her.

Police also believe Jeon beat Na-ri with her fists before strangling her, judging from the bleeding and wounds suffered by the victim.

Na-ri died on the day she was abducted.

This was before Jeon told Na-ri’s mother on the phone that her daughter was “doing well.”

Prosecutors later asked how a woman on the brink of childbirth could kill a young child.

“What else could I do to get money in this physical condition?” Jeon replied.

After the birth

On Oct. 10, Jeon was rushed to a police hospital, where she gave birth to a baby girl. Under the law, she was exempt from detention for 15 days following childbirth.

Soon after giving birth, Jeon denied all charges in court, returning to her earlier claims that others were involved and that she had not killed Na-ri.

Experts later concluded that she had histrionic personality disorder.

Prosecutors sought the death penalty. The court declined, citing her lack of prior criminal history and concluding that the crime was not premeditated. Jeon was sentenced to life imprisonment.

Friends of 8-year-old Park Na-ri pay silent tribute during her funeral at a hospital in Seoul on Sept. 13, 1997. [JOONANG ILBO]

Her daughter remained with her in prison for 18 months, the maximum period allowed. The child was later taken by her husband and reportedly adopted by a family in the United States.

“If I give birth and die, never tell the child about me,” Jeon wrote to her parents in a letter.

“She may discover it on her own someday, but if not, please keep it a secret forever.”

To this day, Jeon remains incarcerated at Cheongju Women’s Correctional Facility in North Chungcheong.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]