(Herald DB) A South Korean court on Wednesday sentenced a man to 18 years in prison for killing his mother after telling investigators he believed God would revive her.The Cheongju District Court convicted the man, who is in his 30s, of killing a lineal ascendant and ordered him to be placed under probationary supervision for five years after his release. The court said his schizophrenia appeared to have affected the crime.“The defendant committed the crime under the influence of a mental disorder caused by schizophrenia, but the motive he described does not appear to contain any mitigating factors,” the court said.The court said the defendant did not appear remorseful. But it said it also considered other factors, including that he had not been aware of his illness, that his social isolation appeared to have contributed to the development of the mental disorder, and that his family members had requested leniency.The man killed his mother, who was in her 60s, at their home in Goesan County, North Chungcheong Province, on Dec. 2, 2025. He told investigators that he believed God would protect his mother and that she would be revived even if she died.As for his motive, he claimed that God had “broken a promise” not to traumatize him and that he killed his mother to escape from God.During the trial, however, the defendant testified that he killed his mother because she had reprimanded him. The court rejected the later claim and found that the crime was linked to his schizophrenia.