South Korea: Man sentenced to life imprisonment for stabbing girlfriend to death over breakup

Suwon, Oct 23 (IANS) A local court on Wednesday sentenced a man to life in prison for stabbing his girlfriend to death over a breakup and seriously injuring her mother.

The Suwon District Court handed out the sentence for Kim Le-ah, along with five years of probation, citing a "wrong obsession toward his partner" as the cause of the crime.

The 27-year-old was indicted with physical detention for stabbing his 21-year-old girlfriend to death in March at his home in Hwaseong, some 45 kilometres south of Seoul, after she visited to break up with him.

The victim's mother, who accompanied her daughter to Kim's home, was also stabbed and sustained injuries that would need 10 weeks of treatment, Yonhap news agency reported.

"There are no extenuating circumstances in the motive for the crime and the crime method and its consequences are extremely cruel and tragic," the court said, deciding to "permanently isolate the defendant from society" to protect the public and to require him to apologize to the bereaved family members.

The court dismissed the defendant's claims that he had suffered from depression and was in a state of mental vulnerability at the time of the crime, countering them with evidence of the precision exercised in his attack.

Kim had reportedly nurtured an excessive obsession towards his late girlfriend, frequently saying that he would kill her and himself if they broke up, and he had used violence during their disputes.