Father Who Twice Attempted to Kill Children Over Gambling Debt Receives Final Prison Sentence

[Financial News] A father who tried to kill his children and then take his own life, citing financial hardship caused by gambling debt, has received a final prison sentence.
According to the legal community on the 6th, the Second Division of the Supreme Court of Korea, with Justice Kwon Young-jun presiding, recently upheld a lower court ruling that sentenced a man identified as A to three years in prison on charges of attempted murder and violating the Child Welfare Act through child abuse. In the same case, his wife, who partially went along with the plan, received a suspended prison sentence.
A, who was already in debt due to online gambling, incurred an additional 34 million won in liabilities. He then conspired with his wife to kill their children and commit suicide, but the attempt failed.
First, in December 2024, A and his wife bought charcoal briquettes and sleeping pills in order to kill their two teenage children. However, the children woke up after taking the sleeping pills, and the charcoal briquettes went out, so the attempt did not succeed. The couple then tried to end their lives in a car using charcoal briquettes and butane gas, but that attempt also failed.
In the first trial, the court found A guilty and sentenced him to three years in prison, while his wife received a three-year prison term suspended for five years. A was ordered to complete 40 hours of a child abuse treatment program, and his wife was ordered to three years of probation and 40 hours of lectures on preventing reoffending in child abuse cases.
A appealed, but the appellate court dismissed the appeal. The second-instance court noted that the children had expressed that they did not want A to be punished, yet it maintained the original sentence. The Supreme Court of Korea also rejected A's final appeal, confirming the lower court’s decision.

hwlee@fnnews.com Lee Hwan-joo Reporter