Kim Dae-doo

Kim Dae-doo (, 17 November 1949 – December 28, 1976) was a South Korean serial killer and burglar who killed 17 people during a 55-day period from August to October 1975. Kim was considered as one of the worst and most prolific criminals in South Korea's history, and he was executed for his crimes in 1976.

Early life Kim Dae-doo was born on 17 November 1949, in rural Yeongam County, South Jeolla, the eldest of three sons and four daughters from a poor family. Kim's parents had high aspirations for him, wanting to send him to a top-class middle school in a big city and eventually study abroad. However, he failed his exams and had no special skills that would allow him to get a high-paying job. As a result, Kim developed an inferiority complex and turned towards petty crime, for which he was eventually imprisoned for assault and evidence tampering. At a follow-up trial, the latter's sentence was reduced to life imprisonment, as the judge recognized that he had only acted in one case and had been coerced by his partner. While awaiting execution, Dae-doo converted to Christianity and is said to have openly repented for his actions after attending church services.

On 28 December 1976, Kim Dae-doo was hanged at the Seodaemun Prison in Seoul, despite protests from his lawyer Lee Sang-hyeok, who had requested that his sentence be commuted and his case thoroughly examined to prevent similar incidents in the future. Just before his execution, Kim is said to have left behind a will, requesting that the justice system segregate small-time offenders and dangerous recidivists from one another, so that first-time offenders would not learn how to commit further crimes.

In the media In 2017, a movie based on the case, titled Ordinary Person, was released. After the film's release, the director Kim Bong-han gave an interview to The Hankyoreh, in which he suggested the possibility that the case had a lot of inconsistencies and that Kim could have been innocent.

In 2019, a podcast examining murder cases in South Korea covered Kim on their 40th episode.