Supreme Court Reopens Murder Question in Fatal Incheon Ritual Case

South Korea’s Supreme Court has overturned an appellate judgment that reduced an 81-year-old shaman’s conviction in the death of her niece, sending the case back for another review of whether the defendant had murder intent.

The woman, identified by her surname Sim, had received a life sentence from a district court after being convicted of murder. The Seoul High Court later reduced the punishment to seven years, finding her guilty instead of causing death through bodily injury. The appellate panel said prosecutors had not sufficiently proved that Sim intended to kill her niece or knew the precise method, intensity and duration of the heat exposure inflicted by other participants.

The Supreme Court rejected that conclusion and returned the case to the Seoul High Court on Sept. 23. It said the evidence did not justify ruling out the possibility that Sim recognized and accepted the risk that her niece could die. A stated purpose of expelling an evil spirit, the court reasoned, could coexist with awareness that the conduct might be fatal.

Sim and six other people, including members of her family and followers, were indicted in connection with the incident at a restaurant in Bupyeong-gu, Incheon, on Sept. 18, 2024. The victim, a woman in her 30s, was restrained on a metal structure and exposed to heat from burning charcoal for about three hours during what the defendants described as an exorcism.

Investigators said the ritual continued even after the victim repeatedly lost consciousness. The group later cleaned the scene and waited roughly two hours after she became completely unresponsive before contacting emergency services. They falsely reported that she had fallen onto the charcoal, according to the case account. She died two days later from multiple organ failure caused by burns.

The Supreme Court described the ritual as exceptionally cruel and dangerous, even when considered in the context of the defendants’ shamanistic beliefs. It also noted that Sim had practiced shamanism for about four decades but had never performed such a ritual, and that the proceedings did not follow the usual form of such ceremonies or include minimum safety measures.

The remand does not itself establish a new final sentence. The Seoul High Court must reconsider the case under the Supreme Court’s reasoning, including whether the circumstances support a finding that Sim knowingly accepted the possibility of the victim’s death.