Man sentenced to 27 years in prison for killing partner, hiding body files appeal
Published: 23 Dec. 2025, 10:08
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[KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]
A man who received a 27-year prison sentence for murdering his partner and concealing her body for three and a half years has appealed the ruling.
The Incheon District Court’s Criminal Division 14 found the man guilty of murder and concealment of a corpse, according to legal sources on Tuesday. The court also ordered that he wear a location-tracking electronic device — an ankle monitor — for 15 years following his release.
“The way the defendant left the victim’s body unattended and hidden for an extended period was so horrific and vile that it could be seen as trampling on human dignity,” the court said. “It is more than sufficient to deem the act as desecration and mutilation of the corpse.”
“The victim, whose life had already ended, was left alone under the defendant’s control, unable to leave the scene of the crime or alert her family,” the ruling continued. “Such a crime demands a punishment commensurate with its gravity.”
According to the ruling, the man first met the woman in October 2015 while working at a store in Japan. They began living together in a studio apartment the following year. The woman had divorced her husband in 2006 and was raising a son on her own.
In 2017, the man was deported from Japan after being caught residing there illegally. After returning to Korea, he began obsessively contacting the woman and even reached out to her acquaintances multiple times. The woman avoided all contact.
However, when she traveled to Korea in February 2018 to visit her ailing mother, the man took her passport and forced her to live with him. Together, they moved into a studio apartment in Incheon, effectively reentering a de facto marital relationship.
During her time living with the man, she was kept under his strict control. She wasn't allowed to open a bank account or register a mobile phone — she was given cash for living expenses and was prevented from contacting her family freely.
With her resident registration canceled, the woman could not open a bank account or register a mobile phone — she lived under the man's tight control. He only gave her cash when she needed it for living expenses, and he prevented her from contacting her family freely.
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[YONHAP]
Her sister was only able to reach her after filing a missing-person report with the police, but even that contact was soon severed due to the man’s interference. Eventually, the woman was completely cut off from the outside world.
The murder occurred while the man was on trial for a 300 million won ($203,000) fraud case.
On Jan. 10, 2021 — the day before the first hearing — he argued with the woman while drinking. As they clashed over concerns about living costs and who would support whom if he were jailed, the woman said she wanted to go see her son. The man strangled her to death.
To conceal the crime, he left her body in their studio apartment and maintained the lease, periodically checking on the state of the remains.
He used a spray bottle filled with detergent and water, as well as air fresheners, to mask the odor. He also burned incense and ran the air conditioner and fans to prevent the smell from leaking outside. He sprayed insecticide to kill maggots on the body and maintained this arrangement for an extended period.
During this time, the man began a new relationship with another woman and fathered a daughter.
The murder came to light last June after he was arrested on fraud charges and could no longer tend to the body.
In July, the building manager alerted the police after a foul odor began emanating from an apartment where the tenant could not be reached. Police discovered the woman’s remains three years and six months after the murder.
The man filed his appeal with the Incheon District Court on Dec. 19.
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.
BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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