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| Soldiers on patrol along barbed-wire fences in the border region in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in this 2012 photo. A Sri Lankan worker was sentenced to 20 years in prison for trying to flee to North Korea after killing a colleague here. Korea Times file |
By Kim Rahn
A high court has upheld a lower court ruling that handed a 20-year prison term to a Sri Lankan worker who attempted to flee to North Korea after killing a colleague here.
On Sunday, the Gwangju High Court rejected the prosecution's request for a heavier punishment for the 27-year-old man, whose name was withheld, saying the prison term was appropriate for his charges of murder and violation of the Immigration Law.
According to the court, the man and the victim, another worker from Sri Lanka, often argued while at the accommodations provided by their employer on Jin Island, South Jeolla Province. The victim sometimes beat the other man for not closing the door tightly, and the man bought a knife to defend himself during possible future altercations. On May 29 of last year, the victim again beat the man, who then wielded the knife and killed him.
The man then moved to the border county of Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, and tried to flee to North Korea by climbing over a fence on the Civilian Control Line, but was caught by soldiers four days after the crime.
The man, who had been staying in South Korea without a proper permit after his one-year work visa had expired in February 2020, said that he had planned to go to China via North Korea.
"Even though the man was beaten by the victim, he prepared the weapon and stabbed him right away, without making an attempt at reconciliation," the court said. "We doubt that he is reflecting on his wrongdoing, considering that he took photos of the dead victim and tried to flee to the North."
But the court did not accept the prosecutor's account that the man had purchased the knife to commit premeditated murder.
