Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Three taekwondo athletes jailed for beating man to death
Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
By Jung Min-ho
Three taekwondo athletes have been convicted of killing a man who was trying to protect his girlfriend from them at a Seoul nightclub.
The Seoul Eastern District Court on Thursday sentenced each of the three ― all 21-year-olds majoring in taekwondo at college ― to nine years in prison for murdering the victim on Jan. 1 after he took issue with them for taking his girlfriend by the wrist at a dance club in Seoul's Gwangjin district.
“The accused, who had long been trained in taekwondo, brutally beat the victim who did not resist,” a panel of judges said in the ruling. “They kicked the victim's head when he was lying unconscious on the floor. Their violence was very severe.
“The victim, who was only 23 years old, died in pain as a result … His family demanded harsh punishment.”
The court rejected the lawyers' claim that the three did not intend to kill him. It said, though they had not planned the murder, they knew the risk that their violence could result in his death.