Police on Wednesday revealed the identity of a teacher accused of stabbing a 7-year-old student to death at an elementary school in Daejeon on Feb. 10.
The Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency disclosed the suspect’s name, age and photos on its website Wednesday, identifying the teacher as 48-year-old Myeong Jae-wan.
According to the police agency, the decision was made after a deliberation committee session held a day earlier, which considered the seriousness of Myeong’s crime, the severity of the damage caused and the opinions of bereaved family members.
Myeong is currently arrested on charges of stabbing the child, Kim Ha-neul, to death at an elementary school in Daejeon at around 5:50 p.m. on Feb. 10. When authorities arrived at the scene, Myeong was found lying unconscious next to Kim with multiple stab wounds that are believed to have been self-inflicted.
Kim was pronounced dead at the hospital due to excessive bleeding, while Myeong was arrested by authorities last week after undergoing multiple surgeries due to self-inflicted injuries.
Under South Korean law, the Personal Information Disclosure Committee under the national police decides whether to make a suspect’s identity and personal information public. A decision to disclose a suspect's identity is based on the cruelty of the crime and the harm it has caused, seeking to deter such crimes, and is based on the public’s right to know.
Though a suspect’s identity is normally made public after a mandatory five-day waiting period, the police added that Myeong’s identity was revealed immediately after the committee session as Myeong did not raise any objections to her identity being disclosed to the public. Myeong’s information will be publicized until April 11.
Myeong's case was forwarded to the prosecution on Wednesday morning on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. Persons convicted of killing a kidnapped minor are subject to life imprisonment or the death penalty.
Police suspect that Myeong's crime was premeditated, as it was found she had purchased her weapon beforehand at a supermarket near the school. Though Myeong testified that she had bought the knife “to commit suicide,” legal authorities are questioning this claim’s validity, citing forensic evidence that she had searched online for information on murder and legal weapons three to four days before the crime.
On Wednesday, the preliminary results of a test known as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised revealed Myeong was not a psychopath. In Korea, this diagnosis is used to measure psychopathy in a legal context, to determine the criminal intent of the suspect.
Based on the diagnosis, authorities believe that Myeong experienced stress and frustration from family problems as well as dissatisfaction with work life and herself. The police called the February incident a “displacement of anger,” suggesting that Myeong targeted Kim as a less psychologically threatening outlet for her emotions.
Police officials added that they also looked through Myeong’s medical records from the last seven years, which stated that Myeong was diagnosed with depression during the time period. However, citing medical experts’ opinions saying that depression alone cannot be said to be what motivated Myeong’s actions, the police added that there “isn’t a direct connection” between Myeong’s mental illness and the crime that took place.
“(The police) forwarded (Myeong’s) case to the prosecution under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes, which gives heavier sentences than the Criminal Act on murder,” a police official told the press on Wednesday. “Authorities will continue to conduct the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised test even after Myeong is transferred to the prosecution.”
lee.jungjoo@heraldcorp.com
