Man gets 25 years in jail for killing doctor

Park, who was charged with murdering psychiatrist Lim Se-won, is escorted to the Seoul Central District Court to attend a court review of a request for an arrest warrant for him in this January file photo. Korea Times file

By Kim Rahn

A man was sentenced to 25 years in jail, Friday, for killing a psychiatrist at a Seoul hospital last year.

The Seoul Central District Court imposed the prison term on the man, surnamed Park, 31, for stabbing doctor Lim Se-won at Kangbuk Samsung Hospital to death Dec. 31 during a consultation.

Prosecutors earlier sought a life sentence, but the court did not accept this, saying his psychiatric condition was an underlying cause of the crime, and he needed treatment for this.

Calling Lim a respected psychiatrist, the court said he sustained the attack after accepting Park's request for a consultation although he had not made an appointment.

“Park's crime gave unspeakable pain and shock to the bereaved family members, who have to suffer from the pain for the rest of their lives,” the court said. “Park claims he murdered the victim in self-defense and shows no sense of remorse at all.”

But it said that in deciding the sentence, it had to take his mental health into consideration.

The court also ordered Park to be given psychiatric treatment during his confinement and to wear an electronic anklet after being released to track his whereabouts, saying he could commit other crimes.

Park, who had been hospitalized there several years before for bipolar disorder, said he committed the crime as Lim called security after he requested him to remove “a small bomb planted inside his head.”

In earlier hearings, the prosecution called for a life sentence, saying severe punishment was required even though Park's mental condition was unstable.

“Park locked the door of the consultation room and stabbed Lim multiple times, and the attacks were so vicious as to damage the victim's bones. The crime was premeditated and cruel,” a prosecutor said in a previous hearing.

Park's lawyer, appointed by the state, asked for the court to recognize Park's mental condition. “He believed the hospital staff had conspired to make him a main culprit of World War III. He also thought a small bomb in his head would explode at any time,” the lawyer said.

Following the murder, the government changed regulations to oblige large-sized hospitals and psychiatric clinics to install emergency bells and emergency exits to cope with possible attacks on medical staff by patients.

Punishment for people attacking medical staff has also been made tougher, and a person found guilty of killing a staff member will receive a minimum of five years in prison.