During the trial, his defense argued that he was under extreme stress at the time of the crime, making it difficult for him to recognize reality. After graduating from college in 2011, Mr. A worked as an interpreter for the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for three years before arriving in South Korea. (Image credit: Kobiz Media)
DAEJEON, March 6 (Korea Bizwire) –An Afghan national identified only as Mr. A who attempted to kill an elderly couple in a fit of rage after being denied refugee status has been sentenced to 14 years in prison in South Korea.
According to legal circles, the 35-year-old man submitted a letter to the Supreme Court on February 28 withdrawing his appeal, and the sentence was finalized.
In March 2020, Mr. A stabbed a 67-year-old woman in the neck while she was tending to a flower bed in a residential area in Daejeon, and then brandished the weapon at her 72-year-old husband who tried to stop him. While in Daejeon Prison, he stabbed another inmate in the eye and face with plastic chopsticks, causing wounds.
Mr. A had applied for refugee status with the Ministry of Justice in 2020, which was rejected, and he committed the crime after being forced to leave the country and suffering from indescribable anxiety.
During the trial, his defense argued that he was under extreme stress at the time of the crime, making it difficult for him to recognize reality.After graduating from college in 2011, Mr. A worked as an interpreter for the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) for three years before arriving in South Korea.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s refugee screening process has become more stringent under the current administration. The government has appealed the case of Russian asylum seekers who came to South Korea to escape wartime conscription, claiming that it could not give them a chance to be recognized as refugees after losing the first trial.
The refugee recognition rate in South Korea was 3.3 percent last year, and the refugee review rate was 57 percent, meaning that 4 out of 10 asylum seekers did not even get a chance to have their cases heard.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
