Court upholds teacher's life sentence for murdering first grade student

(123rf)

Myeong Jae-wan, a former elementary school teacher who murdered her student, was sentenced to a lifetime in prison by the Daejeon High Court on Friday.

The appellate trial upheld a lower court ruling, which found Myeong guilty of murder via kidnapping stipulated in the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Although the medical examination showed she had mental illnesses at the time of the crime, the court said her cognitive ability did not appear to have been compromised.

On Feb. 10, 2025, Myeong lured a seven-year-old student at her school with the promise of giving her a book and murdered her inside the school. Myeong inflicted harm on her neck and arm after the crime, and confessed to the murder before receiving an emergency surgery.

Myeong was found to have been depressed and had difficulties at work and home, and had attacked her colleague at work just days before the incident. Police suspected that the crime was motivated by the repressed emotions she bore toward others and herself.

The victim was first grader Kim Ha-neul, whose name was later revealed by her family.

After the incident, multiple law revisions were proposed to prevent teachers with severe mental illnesses from teaching at school.