A local court on Friday sentenced to death a Korean-Chinese man accused of kidnapping, killing and chopping into pieces a woman in a high-profile case that led to the resignation of police chief Cho Hyun-oh.

Oh Won-choon, or Wu Yuanchuan, 42, was arrested for abduction and murder of a 28-year-old woman in April in Suwon, south of Seoul. He is also accused of dismembering the victim’s body, carving out 365 pieces of her flesh.

“Capital punishment is unavoidable for the defendant, who, despite having committed such a heinous crime, doesn’t show the slightest sign of remorse or possibility of correction,” Lee Dong-hoon, the presiding judge at the Suwon District Court, said in a ruling.

It also ordered to disclose his personal information to the public for 10 years and to place an electronic tether on his ankle for 30 years.

The court also noted that Cho’s motive may have extended beyond raping the victim.

Oh told the court that he had tried twice to rape the victim but failed. He then strangled her and chopped her body into 365 pieces to dispose of it without being caught.

“It is suspected that the defendant may have had an intention or purpose to provide the victim’s flesh (to someone) for unknown use,” the judge said, pointing out that certain skills must have been necessary to evenly chop the body into over three hundred of pieces of flesh.

Suspicions abound on the internet that Oh may be linked to human flesh trafficking rings in China.

The murder case had sparked strong public criticism of the Korean police for their mishandling of an emergency phone call made by the victim. Police found her dead 13 hours after the call, although she had provided sufficient information about her location.

National Police Agency chief Cho resigned following the incident, taking responsibility for the mishap.

Korea has not carried out an execution since 1997.

By Kim Young-won(wone0102@heraldcorp.com)