Kim Jin, 31, and Kang Yo Han, 30, both South Korean nationals, will stand trial at the Ho Chi Minh City People's Court on Aug. 25 for the murder.

They have been indicted with two aggravating circumstances under the Penal Code, which carries 12 to 20 years in prison, life imprisonment or death.

According to the indictment, Kim's friend Lee Chang Dae and three other South Koreans arrived at a restaurant on Tran Hung Dao Street in the city downtown at around 12:40 a.m. on Dec. 28, 2024 to drink and sing karaoke.

Kim and Kang were drinking on Bui Vien walking street at the time.

At around 2:30 a.m., Lee Chang Dae bumped into an LED screen in the third-floor room and damaged it.

Restaurant staff demanded compensation, and the two sides began arguing. One of the customers allegedly slapped several servers and struck them on the head.

The staff went downstairs to alert the restaurant's owner, surnamed Lee, and the manager, both South Korean.

The owner, described by the South Korean Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City as a man in his 40s, went up to the room with the manager to talk to the group, and a scuffle broke out.

Prosecutors said the owner ordered three of the customers to kneel on the floor.

As the fighting spread, the manager called ward police.

One of the group then phoned Kim Jin to say his friend had been beaten, and Kim Jin asked Kang Yo Han to go with him to the restaurant.

Bui Vien walking street in downtown Ho Chi Minh City. Photo by Dai Viet

A patrol team of neighborhood police and local security personnel reached the venue at the same time and took up position outside the karaoke room.

Kim snatched a rubber baton from one of the patrol officers, and he and Kang ran into the room and shut the door behind them.

Inside, the two attacked the owner and the manager.

Kim is accused of striking the owner in the head with a metal nitrous oxide canister already in the room, knocking him to the floor.

He was dead by the time officers forced the door open.

The manager was hospitalized and survived with injuries assessed at 87%.

A legal representative for the dead owner is reportedly seeking more than VND5.2 billion (US$198,900) in compensation, and the manager more than VND3.1 billion ($118,500).

The families of Kim and Kang have paid VND400 million ($15,300) and VND120 million ($4,590) respectively toward compensating the victims.