Airline first officer arrested after allegedly killing pilot, targeting other ex-coworkers
Published: 18 Mar. 2026, 17:30
Updated: 18 Mar. 2026, 19:49
![A suspect accused of fatally stabbing an airline captain at an apartment building in Busan, center, is transferred to the Busan Busanjin Police Station on March 17. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/18/38b74271-23f3-4b3d-806f-d48737110d37.jpg)
A suspect accused of fatally stabbing an airline captain at an apartment building in Busan, center, is transferred to the Busan Busanjin Police Station on March 17. [NEWS1]
A man who fled after allegedly killing a commercial airline captain in Busan has been arrested.
The man — suspected of killing a man on the ninth floor of an apartment building in Busanjin District, Busan — was arrested at a lodging facility in Nam District, Ulsan, at about 8:03 p.m. on Tuesday. The victim was a commercial airline captain, and the suspect, a first officer, is believed to have previously worked at the same airline.
After his arrest, the suspect reportedly admitted to the crime, saying that he had planned it for three years in an attempt to harm four former coworkers, including the victim, according to police. The police believe the man attacked another ex-coworker from behind and tried to strangle him in Goyang, Gyeonggi, on Monday, but he fled after failing.
The man then traveled by train from Seoul to Busan and killed the victim before heading to Changwon, South Gyeongsang, to try to carry out another attack. That attempt also failed after he was unable to reach a person under police protection, and he then hid at a lodging facility in Nam District, where he was arrested.
The police recovered the weapon used in the Busan killing from the suspect's suitcase.
The suspect failed the captain promotion exam several times while working for the commercial airline, according to police and aviation industry sources. During that period, he is said to have had conflicts with his colleagues. After showing signs of possible mental health problems during a medical screening, he reportedly left the airline in 2024.
![Police investigate the scene at an apartment building in Busanjin District, Busan, on March 17. This is where a commercial airline captain was found dead after being stabbed. [NEWS1]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/18/c5b41862-8741-4392-b2fe-ae4704635983.jpg)
Police investigate the scene at an apartment building in Busanjin District, Busan, on March 17. This is where a commercial airline captain was found dead after being stabbed. [NEWS1]
While being transferred to Busan after his arrest, the suspect also told reporters that there was an “entrenched group” of Air Force Academy-trained pilots within the airline, referring to the alleged social cliques within the company.
Many in the aviation industry believe the conflict was related to his failure to be promoted to captain.
“Captain promotion evaluations are usually conducted once every two years,” said Ko Seung-hee, a former flight operation professor at Silla University. “Captains are paid about twice as much as first officers, and there are also major differences in their duties and authority. Promotion is a highly important issue.”
Nontechnical factors — including behavior, leadership and communication — are an important component of the test, Ko added.
“Those items are assessed by fellow captains who have worked with the candidate,” Ko explained. “It is possible he developed resentment toward colleagues who evaluated him during the promotion review process.”
![The Busan Busanjin Police Station [BUSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]](https://koreaseafood.online/data/photo/2026/03/18/ce52f3db-0aea-4c44-9ae7-1b6e198a6751.jpg)
The Busan Busanjin Police Station [BUSAN METROPOLITAN POLICE AGENCY]
The police plan to deploy a profiler to determine whether the man has a mental illness and to conduct further assessments, including a psychopathy test. The case in Gyeonggi will be merged with the one in Busan, and the Busan police will handle the investigation.
“We plan to seek a detention warrant later today once we complete the questioning,” a police official said.
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 KIM MIN-JU, LEE EUN-JI [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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