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| Yonhap |
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.
