The case dates back to March 29 of that year. An 8-year-old elementary school student, identified as A, went missing from an apartment complex in Incheon's Yeonsu district. Kim, then 17 and a resident of the same complex, lured A to her home by saying she had a game console. Kim killed A and then mutilated the body.
Park, 19, whom Kim had met on an online community, requested part of the body over chat, received it and disposed of it. The crime was not impulsive. Police investigation confirmed that Kim had prepared for it in advance.
On the day of the crime, Kim encountered A in the apartment elevator and lured her home. She took the girl to her room, killed her, mutilated the body and dumped part of it in a water tank on the building's roof. She put the rest in a bag and handed it to Park.
The two first agreed to exchange body parts through Twitter conversations. Park had asked first, "If you could have a human organ, which would you want?" When A did not return home, teachers from her school joined her parents in searching the neighborhood, and the mutilated body was found that night. The last footage of A was from the elevator security camera — a video showing her riding with Kim.
'The cruelty will not easily disappear' — 30 years of electronic monitoring
During the trial, Kim claimed diminished mental capacity and multiple personality disorder, arguing that a cruel personality existed within her and that Park had manipulated it to order the killing. The court rejected the claim. Expert evaluations confirmed psychopathic tendencies and concluded the crime was premeditated.
Her composed demeanor at each hearing drew anger from spectators in the courtroom. Park assembled a legal team of 12 lawyers, four of them former senior prosecutors. Sentenced to life in the first trial, Park was found to have aided rather than conspired in the crime on appeal and had her sentence reduced to 13 years.
On Sept. 13, 2018, the Supreme Court upheld both rulings. The court ordered Kim to wear an electronic anklet for 30 years, saying, "Even after Kim completes her sentence, her fundamental cruelty appears unlikely to disappear easily."
The case transformed the entire apartment complex. Residents grew reluctant to ride the elevators, and parents began an "elevator shuttle," going down to the ground floor to escort their children up. An emergency phone booth was installed at the complex's children's park.
A survey of 165 residents found that more than six in 10 were classified as high-risk for post-traumatic stress requiring immediate treatment. The case triggered debate over revising the Juvenile Act and was recorded as the first application of portal rules on deleting search terms related to unnamed reporting. Kim is scheduled for release in 2037, Park in 2030.
