Former Kodansha editor sentenced to 11 years for murdering wife in 2016

Modified Jul 20, 2024 17:48 GMT

Former Kodansha editor sentenced to 11 years for murdering wife in 2016 (Image via Kodansha)

Saturday, July 20, 2024, saw former Kodansha editor Jung Hyun Park sentenced to 11 years in prison for murdering his wife at their shared Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, Japan home. This latest sentencing comes from a retrial at the Tokyo High Court, which has upheld the previously handed down guilty verdict and associated sentencing.

The murder took place early in the morning of August 9, 2016, with Park being arrested several months later in early January 2017. Park was a former editor of Kodansha's Bessatsu Shonen Magazine and was the assistant editor-in-chief of the company's Morning magazine at the time of his arrest.

Former Kodansha editor’s retrial sees no change in sentencing from Tokyo High Court

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Park's retrial in Tokyo officially concluded earlier this week, where the original verdict and sentencing were upheld on the grounds of his claims of his wife's suicide lacking credibility. Initial reports from his time of arrest in January 2017 say Park claimed his wife had killed herself, but this was disputed by an autopsy which allegedly found signs of strangulation on his wife Kanako's neck. The pair and their four children were home at the time of Kanako's death.

Police reports also claimed a video from a nearby security camera didn't have any evidence suggesting someone else entered the area or the couple's familial home. Park called emergency services for his wife at 2:45 am on August 9, 2016, claiming he found his wife collapsed at the bottom of the stairs when he arrived home. She was rushed to the hospital but sadly pronounced dead on arrival.

Park's 11-year sentences were originally handed down after the first two trials, but the Supreme Court of Japan ordered a retrial on the grounds that it "was not fully completed." The case was likewise tried again a third time in the Tokyo High Court. Presiding judge Kazunori Ie claimed that there was "nothing unreasonable about the first-instance ruling that the former deputy editor killed his wife by squeezing her neck on the mattress in the bedroom."

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mattress before going to another room. He then heard a noise outside the door and claimed to have seen her commit suicide. Ie disputed this, saying it was "too sudden and unnatural" of behavior for Kanako, adding that Park's "claims lack credibility."

During his time with Kodansha, one of Park's most notable achievements was joining the team that launched Bessatsu Shonen Magazine. This also marked the start of the Attack on Titan manga, which began serialization in the magazine's first issue. Park was likewise heavily involved in manga production at the time. Park has also helped to create the Great Teacher Onizuka and The Seven Deadly Sins manga series.