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Prosecutors demand death penalty for teacher indicted for murdering 7-year-old student

Published: 22 Sep. 2025, 16:23

Mug shots of Myeong Jae-wan released by the Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency on March 12. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors on Monday demanded the death penalty for a 48-year-old elementary school teacher indicted for the murder of 7-year-old Kim Ha-neul in Daejeon.

During a hearing at the Daejeon District Court, prosecutors argued that the crime was premeditated and cruel, noting that the victim’s family was calling for the harshest possible punishment.

“The parents and family of the victim are living with unbearable pain and are demanding severe punishment,” prosecutors said. “The defendant brutally killed a 7-year-old child who had done nothing wrong. Despite submitting dozens of apology letters, she showed no sign of remorse during the investigation stage.”

The defendant, Myeong Jae-wan, allegedly lured Kim into an audiovisual room on Feb. 10 after her after-school program and fatally stabbed her with a knife.

She also faces charges of smashing a school computer and assaulting a colleague shortly before the murder.

Investigators believe that Myeong, suffering from anxiety and severe mood swings, turned her rage toward an elementary school student she perceived as weaker. She was found to have searched online for ways to commit murder and purchased the weapon beforehand.

Under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, abducting or luring and then killing a child under 13 can result in either the death penalty or life imprisonment.

Since being indicted in April, Myeong has reportedly submitted 86 apology letters to the court.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]