Is it Motherhood or Madness?
The Warning Was Already in Her Saju
That Day, Jeong-In and Sang-Gwan Moved Together
Where Did the Rage Begin?
In 2019, South Korea was shaken to its core by the shocking case of Ko Yu-jung.
This was no ordinary murder.
At a pension (guesthouse) in Jeju Island,
she incapacitated her ex-husband with sleeping pills,
brutally killed him, dismembered his body,
and disposed of the remains in the sea.
Her name—Ko Yu-jung.
That summer, every time the news came on, a chill ran down the nation’s spine.
People kept asking the same question in disbelief:
“How could a person do something like that?”
As the old saying goes,
“When a woman harbors deep resentment, even frost can fall in midsummer.”
So what kind of han (恨)—that deep, unspoken sorrow or grudge—
was she carrying that led to such a meticulously planned and brutal crime?
In this post, we’ll explore Ko Yu-jung’s Four Pillars of Destiny (Saju)
to trace the temperament hidden within her chart and the flow of fate she was caught in.
We’ll examine how her inner structure and the timing of her life’s cycles
may have converged to unleash such a horrifying act.
Ko Yu-jung was born on February 2, 1983, in Jeju City, Jeju Province, South Korea.
She grew up in a relatively affluent household, as her father ran a rental car business.
After her parents divorced, she was raised by her stepmother.
People who knew her described her as
“someone who was brought up in a wealthy family”
and “a person with a strong desire to have things go her way.”
She completed her primary and secondary education in the Jeju region,
then went on to study biology at Jeju National University.
With a background in the sciences,
she possessed both biological knowledge and hands-on experience from lab work.
Some have speculated that her academic training
may have contributed to how calmly and methodically
she dismembered the body during the crime.
However—
what shocked the public even more was the testimony of someone who knew her best: her younger sibling.
“My sister was truly kind and caring.
I still can’t believe someone like her could do something like that.”
Neighbors also recalled her in a similar light:
“She was a bright, polite housewife who seemed to care deeply for her child.”
And yet—
behind that seemingly gentle and ordinary exterior
were anger, madness,
and a deeply hidden double face of extreme duality.
What kind of temperament,
and what flow of destiny,
could have driven her to make such a horrifying choice?
When analyzing a woman’s saju (Four Pillars of Destiny),
the most crucial element to examine is the presence of fire (火).
Why is that?
Because women are born with yin (陰) energy by nature—
a cool, inward quality that often requires the warming, supportive force of yang (陽).
In saju terms, fire (火) represents this essential yang warmth.
This isn’t just about metaphysical theory.
It reflects a natural law and even a physiological reality.
For example, cold hands and feet, or poor circulation,
are common symptoms that disproportionately affect women.
Just as the female body seeks warmth,
so too does the female psyche long for emotional and energetic warmth.
In this light, the absence of fire in a woman’s chart
can go beyond a simple saju imbalance—
it may point to deeper issues related to emotional security and physical well-being.
So how was this element of fire (火) arranged in Ko Yu-jung’s saju?
In what kind of internal structure did her temperament lose balance,
and when—and how—did that balance begin to break down?
From here,
we will take a closer look at the structure of her Four Pillars,
the flow of her fortune cycles,
and the specific moment when her psychological collapse may have begun.
But when we look into Ko Yu-jung’s saju,
we find something striking—
there is almost no fire (火) energy present in her chart.
The only trace of it lies hidden deep within the Earthly Branch of the Year Pillar (戌, Sul)—
a small, flickering ember of 丁 (Jeong Fire) buried inside the soil of Sul (戌土).
It’s an invisible and fragile flame.
Yet for Ko Yu-jung,
that one tiny spark may have been the most precious and desperately needed energy in her life.
She likely clung to it with all her heart—
that ember of Jeong-In (正印),
a nurturing force that offered her warmth and a sense of emotional protection.
What’s even more noteworthy is this:
Ko Yu-jung’s saju is almost completely lacking in both wood (木) and fire (火) elements.
These two represent vitality, growth, and emotional warmth in the Five Elements system.
When these energies are missing,
a person often exhibits a quiet and introverted temperament,
and tends to project a gentle and soft outward appearance.
In fact, her younger brother described her as
“a warmhearted and caring person,”
and neighbors remembered her as
“a cheerful, polite housewife who seemed to take great care of her child.”
These impressions closely align with the energy of In-Seong (印星)—the nurturing star—
which lies hidden inside the Sul (戌) branch of her chart.
But behind that calm and tender exterior
was a hidden current of cold emotional undercurrents and a storm of suppressed feelings
that no one had ever truly sensed.
The most dominant feature in Ko Yu-jung’s saju
is the strong presence of Siksang (食傷)—the expression star—revealed in the Heavenly Stems.
Siksang represents the drive to express one’s thoughts and emotions outward.
In a woman’s saju, it also symbolizes children, particularly her connection to them.
In Ko’s case, the Im Water (壬水) that appears in the Month Stem (月干)
corresponds to Sang-Gwan (傷官)—a specific type of expression star known for emotional volatility.
This star often signals difficulty in regulating emotions,
and a tendency to release them in intense, sometimes explosive ways.
What’s especially striking is that this cold Im Water sits atop the warm Sul Earth (戌土)—
a structural combination that carries powerful symbolism.
It’s as if her chart is saying:
“Even if I am cold and lonely,
I want to keep my child in a warm and safe place.”
For Ko Yu-jung, the Sul Earth may have represented
her only emotional sanctuary—
a space of warmth, protection, and unconditional care for her child.
And that space—
in her mind—was something no one was allowed to invade.
In Ko Yu-jung’s saju,
the Sul Earth (戌土)—which carries the energy of Jeong-In (正印)—
represents unconditional love, protection, and devotion.
However, when this Jeong-In energy becomes too dominant,
that love can easily turn into obsession,
and protection into control.
Adding to this, her chart is heavily influenced by an excess of metal (金) energy.
Notably, it contains a triple formation of Baekho-sal (白虎殺) and Gwaegang-sal (魁罡殺)—
two powerful and ominous stars.
This combination is often described as
a “razor-sharp blade” or a sign of “ruthless and unyielding decisiveness.”
Once such a person makes up their mind,
they may not hesitate to pursue destructive or extreme actions to carry it out.
But—
what’s striking is that the fire (火) energy, which represents her husband in the saju,
appears to move in a way that attempts to form a three-harmony combination (三合) with the Sul Earth (戌土).
In other words,
the husband’s energy seems to be approaching the very space in her chart
that symbolizes her child and maternal instinct—
threatening to invade the sanctuary she had created within herself.
To Ko Yu-jung,
that Sul Earth may have been her last sacred territory,
the one place that had to remain untouched.
“Even if I freeze to death,
I want to keep my child warm and safe.
I cannot surrender this Sul Earth to my husband.”
That distorted belief in protective motherhood
may very well have become the fuse that led to her brutal decision.
Of course, this analysis is a theoretical interpretation based on the structure of saju.
How convincing it may be—
that is entirely up to you, the reader, to decide.
So then—
does this mean that everyone born on the same day is destined to become a murderer?
Absolutely not.
Even with an identical saju structure,
a person’s environment,
their choices,
and their ability to regulate emotions
can lead to a completely different life path.
Ko Yu-jung’s chart is overall marked by a cold and dry energy.
There’s a sense of emotional isolation,
as if she was unable to truly sense the emotions of others—
or even her own.
Perhaps the only thing that could have brought warmth into her life
was the presence of her son—
and the wood (木) energy he symbolized:
a chance for new growth,
a possibility for life to begin again.
In real life,
Ko Yu-jung met her ex-husband, Mr. Kang, during her university years.
They dated for about five years before getting married
and even pursued graduate studies together, dreaming of a shared future.
However, the marriage didn’t last.
Due to financial difficulties and other issues,
they eventually divorced in 2017.
Following the divorce, Ko was granted custody of their son.
But her ex-husband sought visitation rights,
and after a legal battle, he won the right to meet his child on a regular basis.
Throughout this process,
it’s likely that Ko felt an increasing sense of psychological pressure,
believing that her ex-husband was trying to take her child away from her.
This may have fueled growing anxiety and resistance within her.
And then—
the horrific crime finally unfolded on May 25, 2019,
at a pension (guesthouse) on Jeju Island.
That day, South Korea was gripped by shock and horror,
and even now, the case remains etched in the nation’s memory
as one of the most disturbing crimes in recent history.
But this raises a haunting question:
Why that day? Why then?
The answer may lie hidden
in the flow of her fate and fortune,
as revealed through the lens of Korean Four Pillars astrology (saju).
In the next post,
we’ll analyze Ko Yu-jung’s decadal (daewoon) and annual (sewoon) fortune cycles,
to uncover how the timing of this brutal choice
aligned with the underlying forces moving through her life.
🔍 May 25, 2019 — The Flow of Fortune on That Day
This was no ordinary day.
It was a day when the structure of Ko Yu-jung’s saju aligned in a dangerously intense way.
First, 2019 was the year of Gihae (己亥).
The Hai Water (亥水) of that year corresponds to Sang-Gwan (傷官) in her chart.
In a woman’s saju, Sang-Gwan represents emotional expression, as well as children—especially sons.
In other words,
2019 was a year when emotions surrounding her child were particularly heightened.
In addition, during this period,
Ko Yu-jung had entered the Decadal Luck Cycle (Daewoon) of Gyeong-Sul (庚戌).
The Gyeong Metal (庚金) acted as a competing energy (geop-ro) in her chart,
while Sul Earth (戌土)—already present in her original pillars—
served as the root of her In-Seong (正印) energy.
Jeong-In is a star associated with motherhood, protective instincts, and control.
And—
the day the murder occurred, May 25, 2019, was the day of Im-Sul (壬戌).
→ Im Water (壬水) corresponds to Sang-Gwan (傷官),
→ Sul Earth (戌土) once again represents Jeong-In (正印).
In other words,
on the very day of the crime,
Sang-Gwan and Jeong-In were both actively triggered—
creating a collision of emotional and maternal energies.
Her decadal luck (daewoon), yearly luck (sewoon), and daily energy (iljin)
converged to form a volatile emotional structure—
one that may have led to an uncontrollable outburst.
🧩 The Convergence of Three Forces: A Day When Emotions Were Bound to Explode
Year (年) → Activation of Sang-Gwan (傷官) (emotions surrounding her child, uncontrollable emotional outbursts)
Decadal Luck (10 years) → Flow of Jeong-In (正印) (maternal instinct, need for control, overprotective tendencies)
Day (日) → Sang-Gwan and Jeong-In operating simultaneously
In this way,
all three pillars of luck collided under the intense themes of “child” and “motherhood.”
In the study of saju,
a disharmony between Sang-Gwan and Jeong-In
is often interpreted as a source of emotional distortion, relationship breakdowns,
and abnormal obsessions.
Perhaps,
Ko Yu-jung truly wanted to protect her son.
But that desire likely morphed into dangerous obsession,
and that obsession may have driven her to make an extreme and irreversible choice.
🕯️ Another Death—The Quietly Buried Case of the Stepson
The shadow of the Ko Yu-jung case
may have begun long before the horrific murder that shocked the nation.
On March 2, 2019,
Ko’s five-year-old stepson, whom she lived with after remarrying,
was found dead at their home in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
Strikingly, he was the same age as her biological son.
The National Forensic Service concluded the cause of death was suffocation,
but the absence of any visible trauma or internal injuries
meant that the exact cause remained unclear.
Her new husband, however, harbored deep suspicions.
Strange horizontal marks were found on the child’s body before his death,
and Ko Yu-jung’s cold and detached reaction on the day of the incident
left an impression he could never shake.
He eventually filed a police report accusing her of murder,
and an investigation was launched.
But due to a lack of conclusive evidence,
the case was dismissed, and Ko Yu-jung was never held legally accountable for the boy’s death.
The incident faded away—
quietly buried, just like the child himself.
🔍 March 2, 2019 – Signs of Collapse Already Written in the Saju
This was the day Ko Yu-jung’s stepson from her second marriage
was found dead under suspicious circumstances.
And when we examine the saju for this exact date—
we can see early signs that something dangerous was already beginning to fracture within her.
First, 2019 was the year of Gihae (己亥).
This annual flow activates Sang-Gwan (傷官) in Ko’s chart—
a star that, in a woman’s saju, represents emotional expression, children, and inner volatility.
It was a time when complex emotions surrounding her child were especially intense.
The date of the incident—March 2—fell on the day of Musul (戊戌).
The Earthly Branch, Sul (戌土), corresponds to Jeong-In (正印) in her chart—
one of the most significant stars in her saju.
Jeong-In is associated with motherhood, protective instincts, control, and obsession.
And on this particular day, the energy of Jeong-In was especially heightened and active.
In short,
this was a day when Sang-Gwan (emotional projection and child-related tension)
and Jeong-In (maternal control and attachment)
were both powerfully operating at once—
a structure that may have quietly pushed her emotions into dangerous territory.
🧩 A Clash of Emotions: The Distortion of Motherhood and Emotional Control
This particular flow of fate suggests that
Ko Yu-jung may have developed an intense emotional possessiveness toward her own child,
while at the same time perceiving her stepchild as an emotional obstacle.
If her desire to reclaim her son from her ex-husband was especially strong,
then the child from her new marriage may have felt, in her eyes,
like a threat to her emotional world—
an intruder taking up the space that rightfully belonged to her own son.
The death of her stepson on this day
does not appear to be a mere coincidence.
It occurred just two months before the murder of her ex-husband,
at a time when her saju already showed signs of a collision between maternal instinct and destructive impulses.
From a saju perspective,
this kind of conflict between Sang-Gwan and Jeong-In
is considered a danger signal—
an indication that emotional misalignment and distortion are actively at play.
📌 What Does This Incident Really Tell Us?
The death of Ko Yu-jung’s stepson
was neither a simple accident nor an isolated event.
It was a harbinger—
the quiet beginning of a tragedy that was about to unfold.
And the structure of her saju and the flow of her fate
had already begun to signal an impending collapse.
Within her,
a deeply distorted form of maternal instinct
and a fragile ability to regulate emotions
were steadily spiraling toward disaster.
If, at that time—
she had been able to pause the emotional freefall,
if someone had offered her support, reflection, or therapeutic guidance—
perhaps we would now remember this case
in a very different light.
After examining Ko Yu-jung’s saju in detail—
what thoughts have come to your mind?
Perhaps some of you are thinking:
“Ah, when a woman lacks fire (火) in her chart, it could lead to something this horrific.”
But to attribute such an outcome solely to a lack of fire
would be to oversimplify the message her saju conveys.
In fact, her chart reveals a structure of tremendous potential.
The Heavenly Stems form a powerful flow of Shin (辛), Im (壬), and Gye (癸)—
a configuration considered auspicious in saju theory.
The Earthly Branches, too, show a strong concentration of metal (金) energy moving in a unified direction.
In simpler terms—
had she found the right direction for that energy,
she could have made a name for herself in any field:
as an artist, writer, entrepreneur, or public figure.
And yet, despite having such powerful inner strength,
she failed to recognize the size of her own vessel
and instead tried to live a quiet, ordinary life,
in a structure that simply didn’t fit her.
In the end—
that suppressed energy and misdirected passion exploded in a destructive way,
leading to the unimaginable tragedy we all now know.
Her saju contains the potential for remarkable drive and laser-sharp focus.
If she had chosen a different object of obsession—
if she had found something truly worthy of her dedication—
then that very energy could have become a sword for success,
not a weapon that harmed others.
🌀 When Balance Collapses—How Dangerous Can the Human Mind Become?
Ko Yu-jung justified her actions in the name of motherhood,
and even after the crime,
she showed little to no sign of remorse or guilt.
What saju reveals to us is this—
once a person’s heart begins to tilt in a single direction,
pulling it back into balance becomes incredibly difficult.
And now—
in the face of certain shameless figures threatening the fabric of our society,
we can’t help but recall a similar psychological structure.
They too may be
disguising self-destructive stubbornness and arrogance as noble purpose,
charging ahead without reflection,
destroying others under the illusion of righteousness.