A Korean-Chinese man convicted of killing and dismembering the body of a 28-year-old woman has appealed his death penalty sentence, court officials said Tuesday.
Wu Yuanchun, 42, submitted a petition of appeal to the Suwon District Court in Suwon, south of Seoul, following the court's death sentence Friday, the officials said without elaborating.
Prosecutors who demanded capital punishment, the maximum sentence allowed by law, will decide whether to also appeal the sentence, they said.
Wu was found guilty of kidnapping the woman on April 1, and taking her to his home in Suwon where he tried to rape her twice before killing her and carving out 365 pieces of her flesh.
The case dealt a blow to the police after officers were found to have delayed their initial response to an emergency phone call from the victim and wasted the opportunity to save her.
It also led to the resignation of then police chief Cho Hyun-oh, who took responsibility for the lack of action. (Yonhap News)