Two suspects accused of beating the late movie director Kim Chang-min to death are now facing the possibility of detention.
On May 4, a warrant hearing was held at the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court for suspects Lee (31) and Im (31) regarding the case of Director Kim Chang-min’s death by injury.
The two suspects kept their heads down and remained silent as they headed to the court, ignoring reporters’ questions about whether they had anything to say to the bereaved family.
The presiding judge allowed the bereaved family to attend the hearing, including Director Kim’s father, Kim Sang-cheol. He stated, “I have nothing to say right now; I will speak after seeing the results of the hearing,” before entering the court.
Previously, on April 28, the Criminal Division 2 of the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Park Shin-young) requested arrest warrants for Lee and Im.
The suspects are accused of causing death by injury after brutally beating Director Kim during a dispute over noise in front of a restaurant in Guri, Gyeonggi-do, around 1 AM on October 20 last year. They are also charged with violating the Welfare Act for Persons with Disabilities for emotionally abusing the director’s son, who has a developmental disability, by assaulting Director Kim in front of him.
After losing consciousness from the assault, Director Kim was moved to a nearby hospital about an hour later. However, he did not recover and was declared brain-dead 17 days later. He passed away after donating his organs to give new life to four people.
As the case sparked public outrage, the suspects, who had not been detained, caused further controversy by appearing on YouTube to discuss the incident and offer apologies to the deceased.
The decision on their detention will be made this afternoon. Since two previous warrant requests were rejected before the case gained widespread public attention, all eyes are on whether the warrants will be issued this time.
