SEOUL: A Seoul court sentenced 20-year-old Kim So-young to life in prison Thursday (Aug 27) for giving drug-laced drinks to six men, killing two and injuring four.
The Seoul Northern District Court also ordered Kim to wear an electronic monitoring device for 30 years, rejecting her claim that she intended only to put the victims to sleep rather than kill them.
The court found that Kim had intended to kill the victims, saying she became increasingly aware of the potentially lethal effects of the drugs she used.
"She may not initially have been aware of the specific risk of death, but later used tools including ChatGPT to learn about the conditions under which the drugs could be fatal," the court said.
Kim was convicted of giving drinks laced with benzodiazepines to three men in their 20s between December 2025 and February. Two of the men died and the third was left unconscious.
The two deaths occurred at motels in Gangbuk, northern Seoul, leading local media to dub the case the "Gangbuk motel serial murder case."
Kim was arrested and indicted in March. Prosecutors brought additional charges in April over three other men who were injured after allegedly being given drug-laced drinks in similar circumstances.
The court acquitted Kim of one aggravated injury charge involving one of the six men.
At her final hearing on Aug 18, Kim said she had given the men the drugs to avoid unwanted physical contact, citing memories of a previous sexual assault.
The court rejected that argument, saying KakaoTalk messages and other evidence did not support her claim that she had faced an imminent threat of sexual assault from the victims.
Prosecutors had sought the death penalty, along with 30 years of electronic monitoring and probation. - The Korea Herald/ANN
