SEOUL — 1997 · Murder
The Itaewon Burger King Murder
On the evening of 3 April 1997, a 22-year-old university student was stabbed to death in the restroom of a Burger King restaurant in Seoul's Itaewon district. Two young Americans present at the scene blamed each other. One was initially convicted of murder, but the Supreme Court acquitted him in 1998 for lack of evidence; the other received a sentence only for carrying a weapon and, as no travel ban had been imposed, left for the United States in 1999. A 2009 film about the case revived public interest and prosecutors reopened it. Extradited in September 2015, the defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison in January 2016, and the verdict was finalised by the Supreme Court in January 2017.
- Date
- 1997
- Place
- Itaewon, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, KR
- Category
- Murder
- Case Status
- Solved
- Coordinates
- 37.5345, 126.9946 ↗
Timeline of Events
- 3 April 1997A university student was killed in a restaurant restroom.
- 1998The Supreme Court acquitted the first defendant for lack of evidence.
- 1999The other defendant left for the US as no travel ban was in place.
- September 2015The defendant was extradited from the US to South Korea.
- January 2016The defendant was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
- 25 January 2017The Supreme Court upheld the sentence.
Sources
- The Korea Times — Itaewon killer's 20-year term confirmed koreatimes.co.kr ↗
- Wikipedia — Itaewon murder case en.wikipedia.org ↗
- The Korea Times
- Wikipedia (EN)
Source grade A: several independent sources, at least one an official record or reference work. If you spot a mistake or something missing, report it with "Suggest a correction" in the app.
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🕯️ This record was prepared with respect, in memory of those who lost their lives.