Court upholds life sentence for assailant in Seohyeon Station rampage that left two dead

An appellate court on Tuesday upheld a life prison sentence for 23-year-old Choi Won-jong, the perpetrator behind the stabbing rampage in Bundang, Gyeonggi, last year.

Choi Won-jong speaks to reporters in front of Seongnam Sujeong Police Station in Gyeonggi, as police handed his case to the prosecution on Aug. 10, 2023. [YONHAP]

An appellate court on Tuesday upheld a life prison sentence for 23-year-old Choi Won-jong, the perpetrator behind the stabbing rampage in Bundang, Gyeonggi, last year.

The Suwon High Court dismissed both the defendant's and the prosecutors' appeals and upheld a lower court's life sentence. Prosecutors had sought the death penalty for Choi.

"The lower court sentenced the defendant to life imprisonment, the heaviest punishment aside from the death penalty, to prevent recidivism by completely isolating the defendant from society and depriving him of freedom," the ruling stated. "This court reached the same conclusion after careful consideration."

Choi was tried after driving his mother's car onto a sidewalk near a shopping mall in Bundang, close to Seohyeon Station, where he rammed pedestrians before entering a department store and stabbing people on Aug. 3 last year. Five people were hit by the car, and nine were stabbed.

Two of the five people hit by the car — 20-year-old Kim Hye-bin and 65-year-old Lee Hee-nam — died from their injuries while in the hospital.

While the court acknowledged that the defendant's schizophrenia "diminished his capacity to distinguish right from wrong or make decisions," it did not consider this sufficient to reduce his sentence, noting that there were no significant issues in his daily life and that the defendant had failed to take medication or seek treatment.

The surviving families of the victims expressed their resentment following Tuesday’s ruling.

"I knew we wouldn't see a death sentence," said the mother of 20-year-old Kim, one of the two victims who died after being hit by the car. "I will appeal and seek a ruling from the Supreme Court."

The husband of 65-year-old Lee also said the ruling demonstrated a lack of justice for innocent citizens.

"It feels like Korea has become a country where a murderer can live despite taking a life," he said.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL, SON SUNG-BAE, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]