Lee, the perpetrator in what became known as the "Mapo dating violence death case," was accused of causing the death of his girlfriend, surnamed Hwang, during an argument at an officetel in Mapo District on July 25, 2020.
On the day of the incident, Lee assaulted Hwang four times, including violently shoving her against a glass wall in the building. When Hwang lost consciousness from the impact, he dragged her between the first and eighth floors of the building. Immediately afterward, he called emergency services and falsely reported that his girlfriend had passed out after drinking heavily and had hit her head while being moved. Investigators also found that Lee failed to provide appropriate first aid to Hwang after she lost consciousness from his assault, and instead worsened her condition by moving her carelessly.
Hwang was taken to a hospital but died three weeks later from a subarachnoid hemorrhage at the base of the brain. Investigators concluded that Lee committed the crime because Hwang had told acquaintances that the two were in a relationship.
After the incident, Hwang's family disclosed their daughter's name and face on television, saying the perpetrator must be properly punished, and filed a petition on the presidential office's website demanding a custodial investigation, disclosure of the suspect's identity and new legislation imposing harsher penalties for dating violence. The petition drew 530,000 signatures at the time.
Pleas of "intimate partner murder" go unheeded; 7-year sentence finalized
At the closing hearing of the first trial, prosecutors sought a 10-year prison term, saying, "Considering the circumstances of the crime, this is not only a serious offense, but no restitution has been made at all despite the victim's death." In January 2022, the trial court sentenced Lee to seven years in prison.
The bereaved family, appearing as witnesses, argued that the case was clearly an intimate partner murder and that Lee should be charged with murder, but Lee denied the allegations, saying he had never struck Hwang's head. The court said, "The victim ended her life at the young age of 26, without experiencing the future that lay ahead of her," adding, "The harm cannot be undone by any means, so severe punishment is necessary."
At the same time, the court said, "The defendant and the victim were not in a relationship of continuous violence, and it appears the assault occurred impulsively amid an emotional clash, leading to the offense of bodily harm resulting in death," adding, "This differs from the typical pattern of intimate partner murder, in which a planned killing is carried out out of a desire for revenge against a woman who does not want a relationship." It then handed down the seven-year sentence. When the court read out the sentence, shouts erupted from the gallery: "A person died and it's seven years? Would you give seven years if your own daughter were killed?"
The appellate court later found a causal link between Lee's assault and Hwang's death, but imposed the same seven-year sentence. "The victim's subarachnoid hemorrhage was caused by trauma, but it did not result from the defendant dropping the victim's head twice," the court said. "The external impact was ultimately caused by the act of assault."
The court also found that it was foreseeable even from the perspective of an ordinary person that an indirect blow to the head could result in death or similar consequences, given that the victim had consumed a considerable amount of alcohol and was exhausted after being assaulted several times. The court added, however, that there was no basis to presume Lee struck Hwang's head directly, making it difficult to conclude that the method of the crime was cruel.
Violent crimes in which women are killed by intimate male partners such as husbands or boyfriends continue unabated. According to the "2025 Gauge of Rage" report by the civic group Korea Women's Hotline, at least 137 women were killed in such relationships last year, while 252 survived attempted murder.
Over the 17 years from 2009 to 2025, at least 1,697 women were reported by the media to have been killed by intimate male partners. Including attempted murders, the figure rises to 4,002, and to 5,096 when victims among those around them are included. The figures represent a minimum, as they count only cases reported in the media, meaning the actual scale is likely larger. Even so, bills defining dating violence as a crime have failed to clear the National Assembly for years.
