A 23-year-old woman in South Korea has been given a life sentence after admitting to killing a stranger “out of curiosity.” Jung Yoo-Jung, a fan of crime shows and novels, had a fascination with murder and decided to act on it. She used a mobile app to arrange a meeting with an English-language teacher and stabbed her to death at her home in May.
Police discovered that Jung had high scores on psychopath tests, indicating the influence of true crime content on her actions. Before committing the crime, she reached out to over 50 individuals, mainly women, asking if they offered home classes. In May, she approached a 26-year-old victim in the city of Busan, pretending to be a mother seeking English lessons for her high school student. Jung wore a school uniform she purchased online and later went to the teacher’s residence. Once inside, she launched a brutal attack, stabbing the woman over 100 times. Shockingly, she continued the assault even after the victim died. She then cut up the body and used a taxi to transport some of the remains to a remote parkland near a river.
Police found that Jung had spent months researching murder methods and body disposal techniques. However, she failed to account for CCTV cameras, which captured her entering and leaving the teacher’s residence multiple times.
In June, Jung confessed to the crime and requested a lighter sentence, claiming hallucinations and other mental disorders during the incident. However, the court rejected her plea, stating that the crime was carefully planned and executed, making it difficult to accept her claim of mental and physical disorder.
Prosecutors argued for the death penalty, but South Korea has not carried out any executions since 1997, despite maintaining the death penalty. Jung was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment.
