A former American lawyer from a large law firm has been sentenced to 25 years in prison by the Supreme Court on the 24th for the murder of his wife, who was in the process of a divorce.
On this day, the Supreme Court's 1st Division (Chief Justice Seo Kyung-hwan) held the sentencing date for the appeal of Mr. Hyun, who was charged with murder, and upheld the 25-year prison sentence from the original ruling.
Mr. Hyun was brought to trial for the alleged murder of his wife, who came to their home in Jongno, Seoul, on Dec. 3, 2023, to take their child’s bag. At that time, his wife was living separately after filing for divorce.
During the investigation, Mr. Hyun claimed he did not intend to kill his wife and that it was a case of unintentional manslaughter due to an impulsive act. However, in the first trial, he changed his stance to acknowledge the charge of unintentional murder with probable intent.
The first trial found Mr. Hyun guilty of the charge of killing the victim by strangling her and sentenced him to 25 years in prison. The court noted, "The method of the crime is extremely brutal, and it has left irreparable scars on the children. Considering how these children will react when they grow up and learn of this fact, it is profoundly distressing."
In response, both the prosecution and Mr. Hyun appealed, but the second trial dismissed all appeals. The court stated, "There has still been no recovery for the victim's parents, and the victim's family and friends are pleading for severe punishment for the defendant," adding, "It is difficult to see the first trial's sentence as either too heavy or too light to be outside the reasonable bounds of discretion."
On this day, the Supreme Court also confirmed the 25-year sentence, stating there was no misunderstanding of the law in the second trial's judgment.