A Seoul court on Tuesday ordered a man who was convicted of murdering a young woman last year at a public bathroom near Gangnam Station in Seoul to compensate her bereaved family for their mental and physical distress. 

The Suwon District Court’s Seongnam branch ruled that the 35-year-old man, surnamed Kim, must pay 500 million won in compensation to the victim’s parents. They filed the suit after Kim stabbed their 23-year-old daughter to death in May 2016 “because he hated women.”

“Our daughter died more than 60 years earlier than she was expected to die and we could not lead our daily lives because we were mentally shocked following the sudden death of our daughter,” they said.

Korea Legal Aid Corp., which represented the parents, expressed hope that the verdict would serve as “consolation” to heal the wounds of the victim’s parents.

Kim, who is now serving a 30-year term in prison, waited for about 50 minutes in the bathroom, while six men entered and left, before he killed the first woman who entered. He said he had committed the crime because he had been “ignored and belittled” by women in the past.

The death of the young woman sparked public outcry over violence targeting women, leading women rights activists to rise up against misogyny, which they said is still prevalent in Korean society.

Police denied the misogynic nature of the crime, citing the mental illness the convict was suffering as the reason behind the offense. 

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)