A South Korean court has given a life sentence to a true crime fan who told police she murdered a stranger “out of curiosity”.

Jung Yoo-jung, 23, had been obsessed with crime shows and novels and scored highly on psychopath tests, police said.

Fixated with the idea of “trying out a murder”, she used an app to meet an English-language teacher, stabbing her to death at her home in May.

The brutal killing shocked South Korea.

Prosecutors had asked for the death penalty - a request typically reserved for the gravest of offences.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    She was arrested after the taxi driver tipped off police about a customer who had dumped a blood-soaked suitcase in the woods.

    She might have scored highly on psychopath tests, but it doesn’t sound like she scored highly on IQ tests.

  • stopthatgirl7@kbin.social
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    10 months ago

    I wonder if she wanted to kill someone’s because she was into true crime, or if she got into true crime because she already on some level wanted to kill someone. The latter is my guess.

    • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      After the teacher let her in, she attacked the woman, stabbing her more than 100 times - continuing the frenzied attack even after the victim had died.

      I guess we’ll never know!

    • RandomStickman@kbin.social
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      10 months ago

      I agree with you. Like violent videogames don’t turn people into murderers too. Though indulging in it might’ve amplified the murder tendencies?

      • Kid_Thunder@kbin.social
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        10 months ago

        It said that she scored high on their psychopathy assessment. She would have been a psychopath prior to the podcast if the assessment is valid, unless of course, she coincidentally also had some sort of accident that caused brain damage after the podcasts.

    • DoucheBagMcSwag@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      10 months ago

      He’s fucking HIS YOUNG HOT SECRETARY behind the mrs BACK with a scandalous entanglement. Mmm soon to be single wifey plots revenge by plunging a kitchen knife through mr. Infidelites cold dead heart… Ohhhhh yes how will she get away with killing the man she once called LOVER?.. tonight at 11:00

      You mean that kind of exploitation?

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Is that really what true crime is like? I’ve only seen more grounded things like Rob Dyke and Lordan Arts, but that sounds terrible.

        Seems more like ‘reality’ crime.

        • OceanSoap@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          It used to be. There’s a lot of true crime podcasts/YouTube channels out there that isn’t like that at all.

    • MonsiuerPatEBrown@reddthat.com
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      10 months ago

      I agree. But I still was fascinated with how people that do interrogations for a big part of their life deal with that experience. I mean, I got super grumpy with all people while doing pager/phone duty as a sysadmin.

      I can’t imagine how I would feel about reality if I was dealing with people in those extremes.

    • HiddenLayer5@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      I do watch true crime and I know what you mean, and I personally do struggle with whether it’s even ethical to watch it. No matter how respectfully they approach it and no matter how good their intentions may or may not be, even if the wanted to raise awareness for unsolved cold cases just in case people watching may have information, it still doesn’t change the reality that they are making a spectacle out of and directly profiting from someone else’s tragedy without their consent or knowledge.

      Then you have truly disgusting people in the true crime space like this: https://nypost.com/2023/07/12/youtuber-slammed-for-charging-to-see-autopsy-photos-of-boy-11/

      And then you have CBC, Canada’s national, State owned broadcasting service. They also have multiple true crime shows/podcasts, where they have reporters employed by the Canadian government interviewing police and investigators who are also employed by the Canadian government. There’s nothing wrong with that on its own, BUT, it gets infuriating sometimes because there have been cases where the reporters get really suspicious that a certain person did it and has dug up a ton of seemingly new evidence that supports it, and the police wouldn’t even comment on it, sound super apathetic when being told all this, and seem to have absolutely no intention to investigate further after the reporters brought their findings to them and gave them a bunch of (seemingly) new leads. Like if another government agency has already done half the work for you why would you not follow up? Is the goal of the government only to talk about horrific monsters that take the lives of their citizens and not to actually punish them and remove them from society? I suppose it’s possible that the police already investigated that avenue and ruled it out and are just not telling the reporters (and by extension the public), but if that’s the case why not just come out and say that so not only the suspected person’s name is cleared and also let the public know that they are indeed on top of the investigation?

      • Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
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        10 months ago

        I suppose it’s possible that the police already investigated that avenue and ruled it out and are just not telling the reporters (and by extension the public), but if that’s the case why not just come out and say that so not only the suspected person’s name is cleared and also let the public know that they are indeed on top of the investigation?

        If they say they are investigating that way and it turns out the reporter was wrong, wouldn’t there be repercussions for the reporter?

        If they say they are investigating that way and it turns out the reporter was right, wouldn’t it make a fair trial in front of a jury nearly impossible because of public image?

  • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    As someone who was also an English teacher working abroad (albeit in a different country), this sort of thing is my nightmare.

    I had read previously of another English teacher being brutally murdered in Japan, and that was enough to convince me to never have 1-on-1 lessons in a private residence. Always meet somewhere public or teach in group settings.

    You’re pretty vulnerable as a foreigner abroad and cruel people will take advantage of that.

    • interceder270@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Being alone in general is not a good idea with people you haven’t established trust with.

      Humans are just too fickle and prone to acting on urges without thinking about the consequences. It’s getting worse as more people spend less time with eachother.

      • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        I don’t quite get this culture of fear.

        It seems to come out of ignorance of statistics.

        Be the world you want to see.

    • juiceclaws@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Not to piss in the soup here, but if someone wants to murder you, it’s perfectly doable for them to meet you in a public place, do the lesson, and then simply follow you afterwards. I say this as a former private English teacher who has heard multiple stories from colleagues about stalker students who always had lessons in “safe” places

    • afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Don’t feel bad. My kids violin instructor does the sessions at his house and is quite clear it is not a drop off and pickup deal. I imagine it has more to do with him being a guy potentially alone with young girls but it is applicable to what you are saying. Why create extra risk? Meet in public or meet with more than one person.

  • Pickle_Jr@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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    10 months ago

    This is a South Park episode.

    Watch out everyone, now South Korea is going to start taking over Minecraft!

    (Reference: South Park. S17E2. Informative Murder Porn)

  • juiceclaws@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    I truly hope the anti video game nuts start attacking true crime docs now with the same passion they’ve had for call of duty and gta for the last 20+ years

  • interceder270@lemmy.world
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    10 months ago

    Is it just me, or does South Korean culture seem to be far behind the western world it’s trying to emulate?

    • OsrsNeedsF2P@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      2 things -

      1. Lots of South Koreans openly oppose the Western culture, so that point is dead

      2. If you think this doesn’t happen in the West, you’re closing your eyes like the Binance compliance officers

      Source: I live in SK outside of a foreigner hotspot

      • interceder270@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Lots of South Koreans openly oppose the Western culture, so that point is dead

        I don’t see it.

        If you think this doesn’t happen in the West, you’re closing your eyes like the Binance compliance officers

        It’s more like a prevalence thing stemming from their culture.

    • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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      10 months ago

      Nah she’s just a murderous piece of shit. She has thousands of peers in her same social situation who manage not to commit murder.