A South Korean man has been detained after admitting to the murder of his girlfriend 16 years ago and concealing her remains on his balcony beneath a layer of cement, according to police information provided to AFP on Tuesday.
Now in his 50s, the suspect is accused of killing the woman during a dispute in October 2008, as reported by the Gyeongnam Provincial Police and Geoje Police Station.
The man allegedly struck the woman with a blunt object before placing her body inside a sizable travel bag, law enforcement officials stated.
He then concealed her remains on the balcony by piling bricks on top and applying a ten-centimeter (four-inch) layer of cement.
The woman was not reported missing until three years afterward, as she had little to no communication with her family.
During a 2011 inquiry into her disappearance, the man claimed they had “broken up,” and the case remained unsolved due to insufficient evidence.
A police spokesperson mentioned to reporters that the body remained undiscovered for so long because it was tightly fitted into the small balcony area, and the space had been “almost empty since 2016.”
That year, the suspect was arrested for drug offenses, and the landlord had described the unit as being primarily used for storage.
Last month, the remains were uncovered when a worker inspecting for water leaks discovered the travel bag.
Upon examination, authorities found that the woman’s body was “preserved to some extent.”
“The body had not fully decomposed into bones, enabling us to identify her through fingerprints,” the police stated.
The man was taken in for interrogation and ultimately confessed to the murder.
A spokesperson from Gyeongnam Provincial Police informed AFP that the investigation and questioning are nearing completion, and the man will be “sent for prosecution soon.”
