Police add corpse mutilation charge against 'Gangnam Station dating murder' medical student after prosecutors request further investigation

[The Financial News] Police have additionally referred a medical student to prosecutors on the charge of mutilating a corpse in connection with the case in which he killed his girlfriend with a weapon on the rooftop of a building near Gangnam Station in Seoul. However, it has been confirmed that prosecutors ordered a supplementary investigation, citing the need for further legal review.
According to police on the 5th, Seocho Police Station sent the case of Choi (27) to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in January on the charge of mutilating a corpse. Prosecutors, however, returned the case, saying they needed additional clarification on his intent and on the sequence of events surrounding the mutilation of the body, and a supplementary investigation is now under way.
Police concluded that Choi continued to swing the weapon even after realizing the victim was already dead, thereby physically damaging the body. Earlier, in June last year, the victim’s family filed a complaint, stating, "He used a weapon to ravage the body in order to express abnormal emotions, regardless of the killing itself," and police have been conducting a separate investigation based on that complaint.
Investigators believe that on May 6, 2024, Choi fatally stabbed his girlfriend multiple times in the carotid artery on the rooftop of a building near Gangnam Station in Seoul. After killing her, he allegedly changed his clothes, returned to the scene, and then attacked the victim’s neck, face, and other areas again. A total of 28 stab wounds were found on the victim’s body.
The bereaved family has repeatedly condemned the investigation and trial process, arguing that the charge of mutilating a corpse has not been properly addressed. In June last year, the victim’s father, Mr. A, held a press conference in front of Seocho Police Station in Seoul and said, "Even after my daughter was already dead, the perpetrator Choi brutally damaged multiple parts of her body, including her face and neck," adding, "Prosecutors did not even indict him for this, and the court treated the case solely as murder and imposed a 30‐year indeterminate prison term."
Mr. A went on to criticize, saying, "This tragedy was jointly produced by prosecutors, who believed Choi’s false statements as they were and did not even indict him for mutilating the body, and by the court, which left the flawed indictment untouched and tried only the murder charge."
Meanwhile, Choi was indicted on a murder charge and is currently serving a confirmed 30‐year prison sentence handed down by the Supreme Court of Korea. He had scored a perfect mark on the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) and was enrolled at a prestigious private medical school in Seoul, but was expelled after the incident.
yesji@fnnews.com Reporter Kim Ye-ji Reporter