Prosecutors request death penalty for man who killed three people at pizzeria

Prosecutors on Monday requested the death penalty for a man accused of murdering three people at a pizzeria in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, last year.

Mugshot of suspect Kim Dong-won, who is accused of murdering three people at a pizzeria in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, in September 2025 [YONHAP]

Prosecutors on Monday requested the death penalty for a man accused of murdering three people at a pizzeria in Gwanak District, southern Seoul, last year.

During a final hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, prosecutors demanded the death sentence for Kim Dong-won, along with 30 years under electronic monitoring and five years of probation.

Kim was indicted for fatally stabbing an executive from a pizzeria franchise's headquarters and two employees — a father and daughter — of an interior repair firm on Sept. 3, 2025.

“Kim said he committed the crime because he felt betrayed when the executive, who had introduced him to the contractors, refused to take responsibility for the store’s defects,” prosecutors said. “However, the reported problems were minor [...] and not serious enough to warrant such an extreme act.

“The pain and terror the victims must have felt is unimaginable,” prosecutors added. “Two families have been shattered, with lives irreversibly lost, and the defendant must be held strictly accountable.”

Kim’s lawyer admitted to the gravity of the crime but asked the court to consider the defendant's mental state.

“The defendant’s actions are unforgivable,” the lawyer said. “But he was under severe stress and contemplating suicide. He was not given a chance to seek a settlement with the victims’ families. He is willing to forfeit all of his assets as restitution.”

In his final statement, Kim said, “I inflicted immense pain on the victims’ families. If I think of the victims as my own family, my heart breaks too. I will live the rest of my life repenting and carrying the pain I caused them and my own family.”

Kim had been running one of the pizzeria franchise's stores since September 2023 and previously complained that he was stressed due to the store's broken kitchen tiles and water leaks. When both the franchise's headquarters and the interior repair firm refused to fix the issues for free because the one-year warranty had expired, Kim carried out the attack.

Prosecutors said that Kim's store had received free repairs for earlier issues, and that the remaining defects were minor. They noted that the store was performing reasonably well at the time and accused Kim of planning the crime in advance.

Allegations that the franchise headquarters had pressured Kim with exploitative demands — such as forcing him to deliver single servings or pay for costly renovations — were found to be untrue, according to the prosecution.

Kim admitted to all charges during the trial.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. BY HYEON YE-SEUL [shin.minhee@joongang.co.kr]