Who Is the Editor of Attack on Titan & Why Was He Arrested?

Attack on Titan is known for being one of the most popular modern-day manga series and the story of Eren, Mikasa, Armin, and the others became a modern-day cult classic very quickly. It is a fact that the history of the world of Attack on Titan was marked by a lot of violence, but did you actually know that the story behind the scenes was also marked by a violent murder? Back in 2017, former Kodansha editor Park Jung-hyun was arrested for the murder of his wife. He had worked as an editor on Attack on Titan. In this article, we are going to tell you who Park Jung-hyun was and whether he really murdered his wife.

Park Jung-hyun was, in 2016, when the incident occurred, a 42-year-old vice editor for publisher Kodansha who had worked on Attack on Titan with author Hajime Isayama as one of the editors. At around 2:50 a.m. on August 9, 2016, Park called the emergency services over an incident with his wife, claiming that she had fallen and died, and later that she had committed suicide. It turned out that she was killed by Park, who is now in prison for the act.

The rest of this article is actually going to be a true crime chronicle of the event that happened on August 9, 2016, as well as the consequences of these events. We are going to reveal all the shocking details related to the murder of Kanako Park (38) by her husband, editor Park Jung-hyun, as well as what happened to him during the subsequent trial.

Who is Park Jung-hyun, the former editor of Attack on Titan?

Life is full of such tales where a completely ordinary, anonymous man ends up in the spotlight for something completely unrelated to his work or talents. The story of Park Jung-hyun is one such story. Had it not been for this dreadful incident, the world would probably never have known about Park, save for a small dedicated group of Attack on Titan fans and his colleagues. And it would have been great had Park entered the spotlight because of his work, but sadly, he became famous for being – a murderer. But, who was Park?

Park Jung-hyun (48) was an employee of Kodansha and the editor in charge of Attack on Titan upon its launch in Kodansha’s Bessatsu Shonen Magazine back in 2009. After 12 years of publication and 34 collected volumes, Attack on Titan officially came to an end in 2021 as one of the most popular and most successful modern-day manga, selling more than 100 million copies around the world. Park’s role in the start of the franchise was quite important. Park left the project in 2016, when he became a vice editor for the manga Weekly Morning. So, what happened to Park that he actually ended up being arrested?

Why was Park Jung-hyun arrested and put on trial?

The story we are about to recount happened on August 9, 2016. The Tokyo Reporter reported the events as follows:

At around 2:50 a.m. on August 9, Park Jung-hyun, a 41-year-old vice editor for publisher Kodansha, telephoned emergency services to report that his “wife had collapsed.”

Officers from the Komagome Police Station found the woman lying face-up in a state of cardiopulmonary arrest at the base of some stairs. She was confirmed dead about one hour later at a nearby hospital.

The woman’s forehead had some light gashes, but there were no noticeable signs of trauma to her body that would result in death, police said.

An autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be suffocation due to pressure applied around the neck.

Park, who at the time lived in the residence with his wife and their four children, initially claimed that his wife “fell down the stairs.” However, he later changed his story, saying she “committed suicide by hanging herself by a handrail.”

An investigation was launched after police were unable to find sufficient evidence to back Park’s claim of suicide.

After several months of investigation, Park was ultimately arrested in January 2017 by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police. He was suspected of having murdered his wife in August 2016 and then falsely claiming that she had collapsed, later changing his story to a version in which she had committed suicide. Namely, Park initially claimed innocence but the police could not find any evidence to support this claim, after which they started looking into him as a potential suspect.

When the autopsy revealed the true cause of death, Park immediately became the main suspect in the murder case of his wife, Kanako Park. He was put on trial in February 2017 and, naturally, denied all accusations, claiming that he did not kill his wife. According to the Japanese prosecutors, Park, 43, fatally strangled his wife, 38-year-old Kanako, at their residence in Tokyo’s Bunkyo Ward in the early hours of August 9, 2016. “[The defendant] suddenly embraced murderous intentions upon becoming dissatisfied with Kanako’s housework and childcare,” the prosecution said.The defense countered by saying that Kanako committed suicide, as per Park’s own claims.

When Park was asked about why he changed his story, he claimed that he could not “say to his children that [their mother] committed suicide.”

The trial was concluded about a week later, with the Tokyo Reporter summarizing the verdict as follows:

The Tokyo District Court on Wednesday handed an 11-year prison term to an editor at publisher Kodansha for the murder of his wife three years ago, reports TV Asahi (Mar. 6).

According to the ruling, Park Jung-hyun, the former editor of the popular manga “Attack on Titan,” fatally strangled his wife, 38-year-old Kanako, at the residence they shared in Bunkyo Ward early on August 9, 2016.

During the trial, the prosecution, which was seeking a 15-year prison term, said that Park acted with “strong intent” to kill his wife. The defense countered by saying that Kanako “committed suicide.” Park said in his defense, “I did not kill my wife.”

In handing down the ruling, the presiding judge described Park’s crime as “malicious” while not acknowledging the claim of suicide, calling it “unrealistic.”

As you can see, the Tokyo Court eventually found Park guilty and gave him a long-term prison sentence in 2017. He currently has six years left to serve. This was a truly tragic end to a potentially great success story, but luckily it had no impact on Attack on Titan whatsoever. So yeah, this is what actually happened to Park and his wife and why he was arrested. A tragedy occurred and the public never actually found out why Park murdered his wife, which gives this tragedy an even sadder note.