Busan child-murderer appeals against death penalty

A convict sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a teenage girl filed an appeal against the court ruling, claiming innocence, court officials said Friday.

The Busan District Court last week handed down the death penalty to Kim Kil-tae, a repeat sex offender, for raping and killing a 13-year-old girl in the southern port city of Busan in late February.

Although the 33-year-old repeatedly denied the charges against him, the court said there was sufficient evidence to convict him and sentenced him to death because of the heinous nature of the crime and his failure to show remorse.

South Korea has not carried out an execution since February 1998, although its courts still continue to hand down death sentences.

"I really don't remember. I don't know. There is someone else inside of me," Kim said while giving his final statement at his sentence hearing.

Kim has been accused of kidnapping and raping another woman earlier this year, a charge he also still denies.