South Korean love triangle leads to severed finger, guilty plea

KEALAKEKUA — The man who originally returned to South Korea after being charged with first-degree assault and other felonies has pleaded guilty in what prosecutors referred to as a case of adultery.

Kyoung Sun Yoo, 59, of Yuseong Gu, South Korea, was originally charged with first-degree assault, family abuse and first-degree terroristic threatening after a stabbing on Jan. 27 that injured himself and two other people.

Yoo had discovered his wife was in an affair and planned to sever one of his fingers as a show of his devotion, said first deputy prosecuting attorney Dale Ross.

Yoo met his wife and the other man in the lobby of the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel, where they were staying, and asked them to come upstairs, Ross said. Unknown to them, he had earlier acquired a sashimi knife with the intent to carry through the self-injury, she said.

When they got to the room, he went to severing his finger, Ross said.

“That would alarm anyone,” she said, which is why prosecutors opted to include the charge of first-degree terroristic threatening.

There was a struggle as the other man tried to stop him carrying through his plan, Ross said, which included the man suffering a severed artery.

Shortly after the arrest, Yoo posted his bond and left for South Korea. The finger was unable to be reattached.

At the time, it seemed unlikely that Yoo would ever see any court action within the United States, said Kenneth Lawson, associate faculty specialist with the University of Hawaii’s law school.

The state could have kept the case open, so that every time Yoo left South Korea and visited a country where the U.S. had an extradition treaty he could be subject to deportation, Lawson said.

As a practical matter, it was unlikely the state would pursue the case, he said.

Not only would they have to incur the expense of convincing the South Korean government to hand over one of their citizens, Lawson said, the prosecutors would have to arrange for transportation and housing for Yoo and both witnesses.

He said that would be even more difficult if both victims did not want to pursue charges.

That was true in this case, said Ross, as both victims withdrew their complaints.

But Ross said the Prosecutor’s Office also didn’t want to let the case go.

“You don’t come to Hawaii to one of our resorts, assault someone and feel you can get away with it,” she said.

However, Yoo had his attorney contact their office in an attempt to resolve the case, she said.

That led to the plea agreement, where Yoo would plead guilty to both counts, pay the combined maximum fine of $7,000 and face no jail time. Ross said Yoo has already paid the medical bills of both victims.

The initial case was dropped on Feb. 29. Yoo was charged with the two new counts on Sept. 14.

During the case he was “extremely apologetic,” Ross said.

His actions “saved us, the taxpayers, cost of a grand jury,” among other expenses related to prosecution, Ross said.

The case was further complicated by the limited number of interpreters available, said Ross.

Attempts to contact Yoo or his attorney were unsuccessful.