Convicted killer of university student sentenced to life in prison

A woman convicted of killing another woman in her 20s and dismembering the body was sentenced to life in prison on Friday.

The Busan District Court sentenced 23-year-old Jung Yoo-jung to a lifetime in prison, and required her to wear a location tracking device for the next 30 years.

Explaining the sentence, the court said it believes the killing had been premeditated.

Jung’s lawyer asked the court for a reduction in jail time, citing her family background and mental and physical weakness.

The suspect also submitted 19 letters of apology. However, the court pointed to questions as to the authenticity of her letters, as "the manner that the suspect has shown since her arrest is deliberate and contrived."

The court did not accept the prosecution's demand for the death penalty. The court analyzed Jung's motive as "a feeling of resentment and anger toward her family, helplessness due to continued failures such as college entrance and employment and admiration for the lives of others."

It seems that the background of the accused may have influenced the formation of an abnormal personality," the court said.

Jung killed the victim with a weapon at 5:40 p.m. on May 26 at the victim's house in Geumjeong-gu, Busan, and then abandoned the body. Jung targeted a college student through a tutoring app, posing as a parent looking to hire a tutor for her child.

Jung dismembered the victim's body and took a taxi to abandon it in a forest near the Nakdong River in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province. The taxi driver, who found her to be suspicious, made a report to police.

Although Jung has been sentenced to life imprisonment, she will be eligible to apply for parole after 20 years. The Ministry of Justice is pushing for the introduction of a life sentence without parole, but it has not yet been submitted to the National Assembly.