The haunting cries of a Sydney couple, brutally slain by a martial arts instructor, continue to resonate with their bereaved family and friends.

Today, Kwang Kyung Yoo confronted the supporters of his victims, 18 months after he committed the horrific act of strangling Steven Cho, his wife Min, and a seven-year-old student. The setting was the NSW Supreme Court, where emotions ran high.

The courtroom was filled with the grieving family members and friends of the deceased, identifiable by the crocheted flowers on their lapels. They gathered to witness the proceedings and honor the memory of their loved ones.

During the session, a supporter delivered a poignant impact statement from Min’s parents, speaking in Korean. Throughout the reading, she occasionally glanced at Yoo, whose head drooped further with each passing word.

“Our lives have been utterly destroyed,” the statement’s English translation conveyed, capturing the profound and lasting impact of the tragedy on those left behind.

“Ordinary days, small happinesses, laughter and conversation – all of them have disappeared.

“What remains is only excruciating pain and endless despair.”

Sobs and sniffs reverberated through the courtroom as the depth of the family’s grief was laid bare.

Yoo did not raise his head as the parents recounted how Steven and Min Cho, as well as the boy, were killed.

The instructor admits he strangled Min, 41, and the seven-year-old boy at his North Parramatta taekwondo school in February 2024.

He then drove Min’s white BMW to her home in Baulkham Hills, where he fatally stabbed 39-year-old Steven.

“Even now we can still hear the screams and tears … as their lives were wrongfully taken,” the statement said.

“Every moment we breathe is painful and being alive in itself feels like a punishment.”

Min’s brother made a lament to the heavens, asking what his family had done to deserve a tragedy like this.

“Why were our ancestors so cruel to us?” his victim impact statement said.

“What wrong did we commit that they had to take her and upset mum?”

Yoo’s interpreter began wiping away tears as the brother laid out everything he wished he had told his younger sister.

“Mum’s vanity table is piled high with tissues soaked in tears as she thinks of you,” his statement said.

“Whenever I was struggling, I knew I could reach out to you – my only little sister.

“Now I am left alone, what do I do?”

Though the agreed statement of facts did not point to a specific motive, police had found 51-year-old was interested in luxury items, social status, and wealth.

He previously lied about qualifying for the 2000 Olympic Games and earning a PhD in exercise science.

Yoo once showed the mother of one of his students a photo, which showed the Sydney Harbour Bridge and a Lamborghini, and falsely claimed it was the view from his home, with a car he owned.

Shortly before the murders, Yoo had lied to his wife, telling her a school where he worked would soon provide him with a BMW.

He would arrive at Westmead Hospital in a BMW belonging to the deceased, an hour after the 39-year-old stabbed him in self-defence.