Warning: Graphic content
A taekwondo master has pleaded guilty to killing a seven-year-old boy he taught at his studio and a married couple in a triple murder in Sydney’s west.
Kyung Kwang Yoo, known to students at his dojang as “Master Lion”, first murdered Min Kyung Cho, 41, at Lion’s Taekwondo Martial Arts Academy in North Parramatta on the evening of February 19 last year while the boy waited in reception.
Master Lion Yoo; police established a crime scene in North Parramatta.Credit: Rhett Wyman / Lion's Taekwondo studio
He then collected the young student and murdered him before driving to the woman’s Baulkham Hills home and killing her husband, Hyun Soo “Steven” Cho, 39.
Yoo pleaded guilty to three counts of murder at Parramatta Local Court on Thursday morning via video link and will be sentenced later this year.
A clear motive for the killings wasn’t outlined in the agreed facts obtained following Yoo’s pleas.
Police identified Yoo as a serial liar who told friends, family and students a series of bizarre mistruths about his income, education and family deaths. Weeks before the murders, he told his wife he would be receiving a BMW – the same make as the Chos’ car – from his secondary employer, a local high school. Police noted Yoo had an “obsession” with luxury items, social status and wealth.
Court documents show that, on February 19, about 4.30pm, the boy arrived at the academy for his regular Monday night classes. He had been attending the martial arts academy for three years and was taking double classes with Yoo in preparation for his black belt assessment.
Min Cho entered the academy about 6.20pm and was captured chatting with Yoo on CCTV before following him through the classroom and into the storeroom, where he strangled her.
After the class finished just before 8pm, Yoo called his wife to tell her that the BMW he had been promised had arrived. That’s when he led the boy into the storeroom and strangled him, the facts state.
Steven Cho and Min Cho.
The facts state Yoo then took Cho’s BMW and drove to the couple’s home, and, about two hours after he had murdered Cho and the child, he stabbed Steven Cho repeatedly in the head, neck and torso using a knife and a pair of scissors.
Cho fought back, stabbing Yoo several times in self-defence.
About 11pm, Yoo headed back to the studio and collected his phone and Cho’s Apple Watch, before calling his wife, telling her he had been stabbed and agreeing to meet at the hospital. There, he told police three people attacked him at a Woolworths carpark and he had driven his Toyota Camry to the hospital.
According to the documents, when police spoke to his wife, she told them he had driven a friend’s BMW, leading police to search the vehicle and find blood. Also in the car, police discovered documents for the sale of a multimillion-dollar home in Mosman, documents in the name of “Professor Kwang Yoo” and a false master’s degree from Sydney University in his name.
The next morning, Cho’s friends became concerned and headed to the couple’s home, where they saw an object covered by a blanket and called police. Police located Cho’s body before driving to Lion’s Taekwondo Academy, where blood was found on the front step and inside.
The boy’s body was found in the storeroom, and Min Cho’s body in the office. Yoo was arrested at the hospital later that evening.
The court documents detail how Yoo lied consistently about his success. He told real estate agents he was inspecting prime properties for his millionaire parents or entrepreneurial bosses, went to a car dealership to discuss buying a Lamborghini and told family his home had a view of the Harbour Bridge and he owned the Lamborghini. He told his wife and sister that he had a PhD and told others he had competed in the Olympics and others that both his parents and wife had died from COVID.
Yoo will be sentenced in the NSW Supreme Court, where the case will be mentioned on August 1.
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