Man who used robot vacuum camera to spy on woman before trying to kill her gets 12-year prison sentence
Published: 29 Apr. 2026, 21:45
![A robot vacuum cleaner [JOONGANG ILBO]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/29/ef50fa1d-98c7-43f6-90a7-8ae4e283eea6.jpg)
A robot vacuum cleaner [JOONGANG ILBO]
A man who attempted to kill his former partner after spying on the woman's private life through a camera of a robot vacuum cleaner was sentenced to 12 years in prison in an appeals court, upholding the same sentence as the lower court, according to the Gwangju High Court on Wednesday.
The ruling follows the attacker's repeated harassment of the victim, trespassing, threatening with a weapon and threatening the victim's daughter.
The attacker reportedly first met the victim in 2013 and maintained a de facto marital relationship for 11 years before separating in November 2024. He repeatedly contacted the victim after the separation.
On June 8 last year, the attacker accessed the camera attached to the robot vacuum cleaner, connected to his phone and viewed footage showing the victim with another man. He then went to the victim’s home and attacked her with a weapon. A court subsequently issued a restraining order banning the attacker from approaching the victim within 100 meters (328 feet) of the victim’s residence for around three months.
Several days later, on June 26, the attacker brought a weapon and broke into the victim’s home again after receiving a text message from the court the previous day informing him that he would stand trial.
The attacker confirmed that the victim’s teenage child was alone at home, restrained the child’s hands and feet and bound the child to a chair and then threatened the child to lure the victim back home. When the victim arrived after being contacted by the child, the offender attacked with a weapon, causing injuries.
The attacker later turned himself in to the police, and prosecutors indicted him on charges including attempted murder and aggravated trespassing.
![The Gwangju High Court in Gwangju [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/04/29/e719bbe7-c922-491b-aa51-aa7dc84464d7.jpg)
The Gwangju High Court in Gwangju [NEWS1]
“The offender systematically planned and committed the crime, going as far as to break into the residence and threatening the victim’s child to lure the victim,” the trial court stated.
The court sentenced the attacker to 12 years in prison and ordered the installation of an electronic location monitoring device for 15 years upon release.
“There was no intent to kill, and the sentence is excessively heavy,” the attacker argued in the appeal.
The appeals court, however, determined that the attacker had a clear intent to kill, citing evidence that he had searched for and watched videos related to murder prior to the crime.
“An act of murder does not require a specific purpose or intent to kill to be recognized. If a person is aware that their actions could result in another person’s death, it constitutes criminal intent,” the court ruled.
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 HWANG HEE-GYU [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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