Death penalty for serial killer confirmed

SEOUL, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- A serial killer convicted of murdering 10 women dropped his appeal, court officials said Wednesday, making his death sentence final.

Kang Ho-sun, 38, was found guilty by the Seoul High Court last month of
kidnapping and killing eight women between September 2006 and December 2008.
He was also convicted of killing a former wife and her mother in an arson attack
in 2005, charges he denied and cited as the reason for his initial appeal after a
local court sentenced him to death in April.
The sentence was upheld by the Seoul High Court on July 23, giving Kang a week to
file another appeal before the sentence became final, court officials said.
Kang was arrested early this year on charges of kidnapping and murdering a female
college student and has since confessed to killing and burying seven other women.
He was also charged with setting fire to his own house, which led to the death of
his wife and mother-in-law, in order to receive an insurance payment.
Kang is South Korea's 60th inmate on the death row.
No convict has been put to death for over a decade since former President Kim
Young-sam carried out 23 executions before leaving office in 1997.