S. Korea top court rejects death penalty in brutal murder

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea's top court on Wednesday rejected arguments for reinstating the death sentence imposed on a Chinese national convicted of a gruesome murder that shocked the country.

Wu Yuanchun, an ethnic Korean, was originally sentenced to death for the rape, murder and dismemberment of a 28-year-old woman in the southern city of Suwon in April, 2012.

Wu, a migrant worker, spent six hours cutting the body into 365 pieces and individually wrapping each one in plastic.

In June, a district court sentenced Wu to death, having accepted the prosecution's argument that the murder was premeditated and that Wu had intended to sell the body parts.