SOUTH KOREA: DEATH SENTENCE FOR KIDNAP-MURDER COMMUTED TO LIFE IMPRISONMENT

a Seoul appeals court in South Korea commuted the death sentence of a man issued in January to life imprisonment. The 28-year-old man, identified only by his surname Ha, was convicted of kidnapping a 47-year-old woman and her daughter on Ganghwa island, 50 km west of Seoul, in June 2008. He then strangled them after withdrawing 100 million won (US$74,000) from the mother's account. He was also accused of abducting and killing his half-sister. Two of his accomplices were given life sentences.