South Korean man arrested 16 years after burying his girlfriend in cement
A man from South Korea has admitted to k*lling his girlfriend and concealing her remains in cement for 16 years after she went missing.
The man who is in his 50s, disclosed to local authorities that he struck the woman with a blunt object during a dispute at his apartment in the southern city of Geoje. Following the altercation, he placed her body into a suitcase, which he buried under a pile of bricks and cement on his balcony.
The body went undiscovered until last month, August 2024, when a maintenance worker stumbled upon it while conducting renovations, according to local media reports.
The body, which had been partially preserved by the suitcase, was identified as the missing woman’s through fingerprint analysis.
An autopsy revealed that she had d*ed from blunt force trauma to the head.
The man, who police are referring to as Mr. A, was not residing in the apartment when the body was discovered. However, he was quickly located and arrested.
He told the police that he had lived with the woman for approximately five years in a studio apartment in Geoje. The relationship ended in an argument in October 2008, leading to him hitting her with a blunt object. He then buried the suitcase containing her body under a layer of bricks and cement on a small third-floor balcony, accessible only from one of the bedrooms.
Police believe he continued to live in the apartment for another eight years before being arrested on drug charges in 2016. Since then, the apartment has been vacant, used as storage space by the landlord.
Since then, the landlord of the apartment has left it empty, using it as storage space.
The woman – who was in her 30s at the time – was not reported missing by her family until three years after her de*th, the authorities said. They had reportedly lost touch with their daughter and, when they came to look for her in Geoje, they were told she had broken up with Mr A and left the city.
It was only this year when the owner of the building ordered some waterproofing work that the 16-year mystery could be solved.
Police say they are continuing with their investigations and are expected to charge the man with murd*r.