South Korea | Over 47,000 sign petition demanding death penalty for Gwangju high schooler’s killer

The signatories plan to submit the petition, which was opened on July 20, to the district court ahead of a hearing on Aug. 31.

More than 47,000 people have signed a petition calling for the death penalty for Jang Yun-gi, who allegedly murdered a high schooler in Gwangju, according to a local memorial advocacy group on Tuesday.

The online petition, first posted on July 20, has garnered a total of 47,268 signatories as of Monday. The petition was prepared by a group with a name that translates roughly to Gwangju-Jeonnam Memorial Solidarity and the family of the 16-year-old girl who was killed.

Jang stabbed the victim, whom he did not know, to death on May 5, according to law enforcement. He later admitted that he had intended to rape her.

Petitioners called for Jang to be sentenced to death to hold him accountable in a manner commensurate with the victim’s unjust death.

By age, people in their 20s made up the largest group at 17,020 signatories, or 41.1 percent. They were followed by those in their teens or younger at 7,863, or 19 percent; those in their 30s at 6,150, or 14.8 percent; and those in their 40s at 2,003, or 4.8 percent.

By region, Gyeonggi accounted for the largest share at 10,757 signatories, or 26 percent. Seoul was close behind at 9,772 petitioners, or 23.6 percent; Gwangju and South Jeolla at 4,564, or 11 percent; Incheon at 2,436, or 5.9 percent; and Busan at 1,961, or 4.7 percent.

Signatories demanded measures to prevent similar crimes and strengthen the social safety net and called for a rigorous investigation into others implicated in the case, according to comments submitted with the petition.

“We cannot shake the fear that if the perpetrator returns to society, he could target someone else and try to carry out the crime he failed to complete,” the bereaved family said in a notice encouraging people to join the petition. “Please help keep our society safe so that no one else falls victim to such a crime.”

The local memorial group plans to submit the petition document and the results of the online endorsements to the Gwangju District Court ahead of a hearing in the Jang Yun-gi case scheduled for Aug. 31.

Source: koreajoongangdaily.com, Hyeon Ye-Seul, August 11, 2026

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."
— Oscar Wilde

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