Police reveal identity of man accused of killing, dismembering international student
The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency disclosed the identity of Zheng Changsheng, a Chinese national who was arrested on suspicion of killing a Chinese graduate student at his residence in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang.
The identity of the suspect in the murder of a Chinese international student, revealed on Sept. 1GYEONGBUK PROVINCIAL POLICE AGENCY
GYEONGSAN, North Gyeongsang — The police have revealed the name and face of the man accused of killing a Chinese international student in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang.
The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency disclosed the identity of Zheng Changsheng, a Chinese national, on Tuesday.
Zheng was recently arrested on suspicion of killing a Chinese graduate student at his residence in Hayang-eup in Gyeongsan on Aug. 20, then dismembering her body and disposing of the remains at multiple locations, including a garbage disposal site and a mountain.
The agency’s personal information disclosure review committee met on Monday and approved the release of Zheng’s name, age and a photograph of his face. The committee cited the seriousness and brutality of the crime, the strength of the evidence and the public interest in the case.
His personal information will be available on the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency’s website for 30 days starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday.
After arresting him at around 7:29 p.m. on Aug. 25, police conducted an on-site investigation before taking him to the Gyeongsan Police Station at around 11:50 p.m. the same day. They ultimately accused him of committing five offenses: murder, mutilation, abandonment of a corpse, concealment of a corpse and obstruction of official duties by deception.
A suspect in the killing of a Chinese international student in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, leaves the Daegu District Court on Aug. 27 after attending a hearing on an arrest warrant.YONHAP
According to authorities, Zheng had taught at the graduate school that the victim attended.
He had taught two courses — rehabilitation therapy and neuroanatomy — in the spring semester earlier this year and was scheduled to teach two others — human anatomy and musculoskeletal disorders and treatments — in the fall. The victim had taken one of his classes.
She entered Korea on Aug. 14 to attend her commencement ceremony. She went missing on the night of Aug. 20, the day of the ceremony.
Police initially determined that the student had traveled to Dongdaegu Station that day. Further investigation, however, found that Zheng had killed the student at his residence, then traveled to Dongdaegu Station after concealing his face and donning women’s clothes.
A still from CCTV footage shows a man accused of murdering a Chinese international student leaving his home in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang, while dressed as a woman on Aug. 20.YONHAP
He took the student’s cell phone with him to the station and turned it off there in an apparent attempt to mislead investigators. He then changed out of the women’s clothes in a restroom near the station before returning to his residence.
He also contacted the police himself, claiming to be the student’s boyfriend, and reported her missing, which police believe was another attempt to mislead the investigation.
Additionally, investigators found that Zheng traveled to several locations, including Gunpo in Gyeonggi and Gyeongju in North Gyeongsang, on multiple occasions to dispose of the student’s dismembered remains. Police are continuing to search for and recover her remains based on Zheng’s statements and digital forensic analysis.
Police intend to complete their additional investigation of Zheng and refer the case to prosecutors by Saturday.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
