A man in his 30s was sentenced to life imprisonment Wednesday for hiring a hit man to kill his cousin over a family inheritance dispute.
The Seoul Central District Court found a 39-year-old surnamed Kwak guilty of inciting the murder of the victim, only identified by his last name Koh.
"He committed a crime that is intolerable in society given the premeditation, brutality and methods of killing," the court said. "The defendant needs to be isolated from community indefinitely."
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(Yonhap) |
Kwak was charged last year for hiring the hit man, a 39-year-old Cho, to murder Koh. Cho stabbed the victim to death at a law firm office in Seoul in October last year. The victim, an art director, was the husband of South Korean actress Song Sun-mi. Cho has been sentenced to 22 years in prison for the murder.
Kwak and Koh were in a legal battle over their grandfather's Seoul-based estate worth around 68 billion won (US$67 million). Kwak apparently promised Cho a 2 billion-won payout for the killing.
Song was present at Kwak's sentencing hearing Wednesday. With teary eyes, she left the courtroom without saying a word after the court delivered its ruling. (Yonhap)