The 39-year-old man, known as A, who stabbed and killed the ex-wife of Cool's Kim Sung Soo as well as three other men last year was sentenced to 23 years in prison on December 23.

The justice department said, "It was reasonable not to accept the claim in the original trial that A was disabled . . . Looking at the motive for the crime, the measures he took, and the results, 23 years is not excessive."

In the original trial referenced above, A's side had claimed that he was very mentally weak at the time and did not mean to commit murder on purpose.  However, this claim was not accepted by the court and they followed the standard procedure and sentenced him to 23 years.

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'A' said in relation to the crime, "I remember it . . . It happened during a quarrel . . . I am sorry to the family of the deceased."  He also said that one of the victims, a Mr. Kang, had first provoked him with curses, causing him to retrieve a deadly weapon to teach him a lesson.