Appeals court upholds life imprisonment for perpetrator of deadly Bundang stabbing rampage

An appellate court on Tuesday upheld a life imprisonment sentence for the perpetrator behind last year's deadly stabbing rampage in Bundang, south of Seoul. The 23-year-old, Choi Won-jong, was charged with smashing his mother's car into passing pedestrians outside a busy department store in early August in Bundang and going on a stabbing spree inside the department store building. Two women, aged 20 and 65, respectively, at the time, died while undergoing treatment after being struck by the car, and 12 others were injured in the car crash and stabbing rampage. The district court sentenced Choi to life in prison in February, but the prosecutors appealed the decision and demanded the death penalty for Choi. The court at the time said that Choi had been in a state of mental vulnerability due to his chronic schizophrenia but dismissed his appeal for leniency. On Tuesday, the Suwon High Court upheld the previous ruling, saying a lower court's judgment should be respected in case it has not deviated from the reasonable boundaries of discretion. Source: Yonhap News Agency