Man who stabbed ex-partner at golf course sentenced to 23 years in prison

Emergency responders work at the scene of a fatal stabbing at a golf course in Geoje, South Gyeongsang. [SOUTH GYEONGSANG FIRE DEPARTMENT]

 
The Changwon District Court on Thursday sentenced a man who fatally stabbed his partner at a golf course to 23 years in prison, with five years of probationary supervision. 
 
The man had been indicted on murder charges.
 
 
He was convicted of stabbing a woman multiple times with a knife that he had prepared in advance at a golf course in Geoje, South Gyeongsang, at around 10:35 a.m. on Sept. 5. The woman had been working there as a caddie. 
 
The court said the defendant “brutally took the life of a victim with whom he had been in a de facto marital relationship for about 16 years through a premeditated method,” noting that the victim’s family had pleaded for severe punishment, saying their “ordinary and stable lives were shattered in a single moment.”
 
The court added that it had considered his admission of guilt and remorse when determining the sentence.
 
According to the prosecution, the pair had a common-law marriage, as they had been in a relationship from 2009 until July this year. During that time, the man, who operated a travel agency, received financial support from the woman after his business suffered due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
But the prosecution said that his demands for money grew increasingly unreasonable, and he spent the money on unnecessary purchases, including alcohol. When the woman refused to give him the amount he wanted, he allegedly verbally abused and threatened her. She ultimately ended the relationship in July and cut off financial support.
 
Around that time, the man discovered records of the woman sending money to her ex-husband, which led him to falsely believe she intended to abandon him and reunite with her former spouse and children.
 
He went to the woman’s workplace, the golf course, after she avoided his attempts to contact her and committed the crime. Prosecutors said he disguised himself as a golf course worker to approach her while she was on duty.
 
During the trial, the defendant claimed that the killing was not premeditated. But prosecutors argued he continued to “blame the victim and attempt to justify his actions,” and that his account linking the crime to the victim’s relationship with her ex-husband was “nothing more than delusion.” They had requested life imprisonment.

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 JI-HYE [[email protected]]