The Seocho-dong public restroom murder case (), commonly known as the Gangnam Station murder case or the Gangnam Station femicide occurred at the public restroom of a karaoke bar in Seocho-gu, Seoul, South Korea on 17 May 2016. Kim Seong-min (34 years old) stabbed to death an unspecified woman he had never met before, and later claimed that he did so out of his hatred for women as they had ignored and humiliated him all his life. The police later disputed his claims and said the incident was not a hate crime against women, as claimed, but one driven by mental illness. On 13 April 2017, the Supreme Court of the Republic of Korea finalized the sentence of 30 years in prison for the murderer Kim Seong-min.
Incident
Kim Seong-min, a 34-year-old employee of a nearby liquor store near Gangnam Station in Seoul, entered the karaoke bar's toilet in Seocho-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul, at about 12:33 am on 17 May 2016. A 23-year-old woman, who entered the restroom at 1:07 am, was stabbed in the left chest four times with a kitchen knife measuring 32.5cm in length. The attacker testified that he committed the crime because he was ignored by women and he wasn't acquainted with the victim.
Investigation
Immediately after being arrested, Kim Seong-min testified that he had often been ignored by women and committed the murder because he could not take it anymore. On 19 May, Seoul Seocho Police Station announced that "On 18 May, Kim's mother was summoned and confirmed the medical records and medical records that Kim has been treated for a chronic illness since 2008. Kim was hospitalized four times due to his mental illness and was diagnosed by his physician at the time of discharge in early January 2016 that he could experience further episodes if he did not take the medicine that had been prescribed to him. Despite this, he did not take any medication since he got away from home at the end of March 2016." In addition, they said, "In-depth analysis of Kim's feelings and attitudes at the present stage is needed." On 19 May and 20 May, 5 profilers including the National Police Agency criminal behavior analysis team leader Il Yong Kwon were put in to conduct psychological analysis with Kim two times.
On 22 May, Seoul Seocho Police Station announced the results of the suspect's psychological analysis. He had repeated sitting and standing since adolescence, told the surrounding people that "I can hear someone swearing at me" from 2003 to 2007 and when he went to a seminary in 2014, he got an idea that "I am trying to do my best, but I think that women keep me in check and harass me". He has a delusion that he has been hurt by women. However, there were no specific cases in which he was injured by women. In fact, due to this delusion, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in 2008 and was admitted to the psychiatric department six times in total. Since 2008, he had lost his basic self-care function, with no washing for more than a year. Kim, however, stopped taking drugs after being discharged from the hospital in early January 2016 due to no awareness of his mental illness, and had become delusional at the time of the crime.