Korean Man in His 30s Sentenced to 20 Years for Stalking and Killing Former Lover in Tokyo

【Financial News Tokyo—Correspondent Hye-jin Seo】A Korean man in his 30s was sentenced to 20 years in prison for stalking and killing a Korean woman he had dated in Tokyo, Japan.
According to The Asahi Shimbun, Kyodo News and other outlets on the 4th, the Tokyo District Court sentenced Park, a 31-year-old South Korean national, to 20 years in prison—the same sentence sought by prosecutors—for murder and violations of the Stalker Regulation Act.
Park was accused of stabbing his former lover, a Korean national identified as Ms. A, in the neck with a weapon and killing her at around 1:30 p.m. on September 1 last year in Setagaya City, Tokyo. She was 40 at the time.
The two began dating around April last year. Park lived in South Korea while Ms. A lived in Japan, and they maintained a long-distance relationship. Investigators found that they began having conflicts over their breakup after Park traveled to Japan in August of the same year.
Park was also accused of stalking Ms. A by visiting her home 13 times from August 29 until the day of the crime and calling or messaging her 10 times. He also waited at her workplace in Setagaya City.
After receiving Ms. A’s report, Japanese police warned Park and escorted him to Tokyo Station. When he went back to Ms. A’s home, however, officers tried to send him back to South Korea and confirmed that he had passed through the security checkpoint at Narita International Airport. Park did not board the plane, left the airport, and committed the crime two days later.
At trial, Park admitted to the stalking charge but denied intending to kill her, saying, “I did not stab her intentionally.” The court found that he had intended to kill her based on the depth and straight shape of the wound caused by the weapon, as well as testimony from the forensic pathologist.
The court ruled, “The motive for the crime was selfish and deserves strong condemnation: he stalked the victim because he could not accept the breakup, developed negative feelings toward her over a short period, and killed her.” It added, “The victim was not at fault in any way.”
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