Former airline pilot in South Korea gets life for murder, plot to kill 5 others

A 49-year-old former airline pilot in South Korea who plotted to kill six former colleagues and fatally stabbed one of them was sentenced to life in prison on Aug 21.



The Busan District Court convicted Kim Dong-hwan of murder, attempted murder, preparing to commit murder, trespassing and violating information network laws. The court also ordered him to wear an electronic tracking device for 30 years.



Kim was accused of fatally stabbing a former airline captain at an apartment in Busanjin-gu, Busan, on March 17.



A day earlier, he attempted to kill another former colleague, also an airline captain, at a residence in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, prosecutors said. He had planned to kill four other people connected to his former employer.



Prosecutors said Kim had prepared for the attacks for more than seven months from August 2025, following his targets, attaching tracking devices to vehicles and surveying their homes and daily routines.



He also allegedly used a former colleague's account to access the airline's internal flight schedule system 17 times to check the victims’ schedules.