Accused murderer appears in court

Ben Godar

A tearful Joong Myung Kim appeared in a Burbank courtroom Thursday to

face first-degree murder charges for allegedly strangling his wife in

their Burbank apartment last month.

Kim, 53, was scheduled to be arraigned, but the public defender

representing him asked that the proceeding be delayed until Aug. 14.

Dressed in yellow and blue prison fatigues and speaking through a

Korean interpreter, Kim answered only “yes” when asked if he agreed

to the delay.

Detectives drove Kim back from Las Vegas on Tuesday, where he had

been in custody since crashing his car July 23 on Interstate 15

between Baker, Calif., and Primm, Nev.

Earlier that day, police received a 911 call leading them to an

apartment in the 600 block of East Cedar Avenue, where they found

Kim’s wife, 45-year-old Young Sun Cho, dead from apparent

strangulation. Cho’s 16-year-old daughter and Kim’s 8-year-old

grandson were in the home but asleep when the murder occurred, police

said.

Those who knew the couple told police there was a history of

domestic violence, but police said they were never called to the

home.

Judge Rafael A. Ongkeko ordered Kim to remain in custody on

$1-million bail, but because he may be in the country illegally,

federal immigration officials have placed a hold on Kim that will

prevent him from being released on bail.