Taekwondo instructor’s shocking lies before triple murder

A taekwondo instructor who killed a couple and a child during a shocking triple murder is set to learn his fate in a court.

A taekwondo instructor who confessed to a shocking triple murder in Sydney’s west has confirmed his pleas as he gets set to learn his fate.

Kwang Kyung Yoo, 51, earlier this year pleaded guilty to murdering Min Cho, 41, and a seven-year-old child at Yoo’s North Parramatta taekwondo studio as well as Ms Cho’s husband, Steven Cho, 39, at his Baulkham Hills home in February last year.

A statement of agreed facts tendered to the court do not state Yoo’s motivation for the horrific murders.

However, they do reveal that in the lead-up he lied to his wife that he was being given a BMW as a work car and instead took Ms Cho’s BMW X5 after killing her.

The court documents also reveal he was obsessed with wealth and had told lies about his academic credentials and having competed at the Olympics.

Yoo confirmed his three guilty pleas in the NSW Supreme Court in Sydney on Friday.

“Yes,” Yoo said, appearing from prison via videolink, as he confirmed he would plea guilty to each murder.

Yoo hung his head during Friday’s mention in the Supreme Court.

Kwang Kyung Yoo murdered three people.

Yoo falsely claimed he competed at the Olympics. Picture: Facebook

Yoo ran the Lion’s Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy at North Parramatta and was known to his students as “Master Lion” at the time of the horrific triple murder.

According to court documents, in January last year, he lied to his wife when he told her that a primary school – where he had a part-time job – was giving him a BMW as a work car.

In the 11 days leading up to the horrific murders, Yoo was captured on CCTV driving into the complex where the Cho family lived in his grey Toyota Camry on five occasions

The court was told that about 6.22pm on February 19, after the other parents and students had left his taekwondo studio, Yoo strangled Ms Cho in a storeroom before dragging her body into the office.

Later that evening, he was captured on CCTV taking Ms Cho’s car keys before he later called his wife to say his new BMW had arrived.

“The car has arrived,” he told her during a brief phone call.

Murder victims Min Cho and her husband Steven. Picture: Supplied

He then killed the seven-year-old boy in the storeroom by strangling him.

At 8.48pm, he drove Ms Cho’s BMW X5 away from the scene to her Baulkham Hills townhouse where he broke in.

Mr Cho returned home and was stabbed to death by Yoo, with blows to the head, neck and chest.

Mr Cho stabbed Yoo in self-defence but was killed in the altercation.

Yoo returned to his studio and called his wife, saying: “I’ve been stabbed with a knife.”

He drove to Westmead Hospital and was treated for a collapsed lung and stab wounds.

He claimed to police that he had been stabbed by three people in the carpark of a North Parramatta Woolworths; however, officers quickly established that was a lie after viewing CCTV footage.

Police searched Ms Cho’s BMW, which Yoo had driven to hospital, and found traces of blood inside.

Mr Cho’s body was discovered the next day when friends became concerned and went to the couple’s home.

Police then went to the Lion’s Taekwondo and Martial Arts Academy, where they noticed blood on the front steps before the bodies of Ms Cho and the boy were found inside.

Yoo’s taekwondo studio where two bodies were discovered. Picture: NewsWire / Gaye Gerard

Police outside the Chos’ Baulkham Hills home. Picture: NewsWire/Gaye Gerard.

“During the investigation, police obtained evidence that suggested that the offender (Yoo) had interests in luxury items, social status and wealth,” the court documents state.

Police found evidence of Yoo inspecting properties and falsely telling agents that he was acting on behalf of his wealthy employer or his parents who had a budget of up to $50m.

He showed the mother of one of his students a picture that he falsely claimed was taken from his home with Harbour Bridge views.

He had further lied about owning property in Sydney’s eastern suburbs and luxury cars and that he holidayed in New York and California.

Yoo also told people, including his wife and sister, that he had a master’s degree and PHD from Macquarie University and The University of Sydney.

However, both institutions had no record of him.

He was also found to have lied about competing in taekwondo at the 2000 Olympics.

Yoo will appear in court again next week when a date will be set for sentence proceedings.

Originally published as Taekwondo instructor’s shocking lies before triple murder