World News | Wrongfully Accused South Korean Man Acquitted of Murder

Seoul, Dec 18 (AP) A South Korean man who spent 20 years behind bars for a murder he didn't commit has cleared his name in court after one of the country's most notorious serial killers confessed to the 1988 rape and murder of a 13-year-old girl.

Yoon Seong-yeo, 53, had been sentenced to life in prison and was released on parole in 2009. He listened quietly as Judge Park Jeong-je of the Suwon District Court apologized to him on Thursday on behalf of the judiciary for causing him "immense physical and mental pain” because of the wrong verdict.

“The defendant is innocent,” Park announced. Yoon's acquittal prompted thunderous applause from his supporters in the gallery. “I hope no one ever has to go through what I went through and that all cases receive fair trials,” Yoon told reporters after the ruling.

Yoon, then a 22-year-old mechanic in the farming town of Hwaseong, was arrested in July 1989 after police accused him of raping and murdering the girl in September 1988.

Between 1986 and 1991, 10 women of various ages were found brutally raped and murdered in the Hwaseong area, and Yoon's arrest came as police faced immense public criticism over their failure to identify the serial killer.

Police had concluded that Yoon committed a copycat crime. Yoon pleaded not guilty, saying that police investigators forced him to confess to a crime he didn't commit. The Suwon District Court handed him a life sentence in October 1989 which was upheld by the Supreme Court in May 1990. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)