17 years after savage murder of ex-wife in Seoul bus terminal, prime suspect yet to be found
Published: 07 Apr. 2026, 07:00
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- CHO JUNG-WOO
- [email protected]
Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI
![From left: Hwang Joo-yeon, poses for a photo in Muay Thai shorts, in an undated photo released by SBS's investigative program ″Unanswered Questions″ (1992-); A wanted poster of Hwang distributed by Seoul Seocho Police Station [SCREEN CAPTURE, SEOUL SEOCHO POLICE STATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/07/775c8d73-7a4f-4ece-b511-eaa3301d0284.jpg)
From left: Hwang Joo-yeon, poses for a photo in Muay Thai shorts, in an undated photo released by SBS's investigative program ″Unanswered Questions″ (1992-); A wanted poster of Hwang distributed by Seoul Seocho Police Station [SCREEN CAPTURE, SEOUL SEOCHO POLICE STATION]
[KOREAN CRIME FILES #17]
Behind the glitz and glamour seen in pop culture, Korea’s grimmest and most harrowing crime stories, some more well-known than others, continue to haunt society today. The Korea JoongAng Daily takes a deep dive into some of these stories, sharing a glimpse into the darker side of society as well as the most up-to-date known facts. — Ed.
On the afternoon of June 17, 2008, a blue Hyundai Porter truck rolled into a parking garage near Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal in Seocho District, southern Seoul.
Inside the truck sat a man with his 9-year-old daughter.
“I’ll go get Mom,” he told her, stepping out of the vehicle.
Walking away from the truck, the man pulled on a shoulder-length wig and approached the terminal plaza. He walked around, looking through throngs of people as he searched for the mother.
Soon, he spotted a couple talking to each other. Walking toward them, he suddenly pulled out a knife and stabbed the boyfriend 14 times until the victim collapsed to the ground. The attacker then turned to the woman. He wrapped his arm around her neck and stabbed her 18 times. The woman, surnamed Kim, was his ex-wife and the mother of the child who was waiting in the truck.
The attacker's clothes were soon soaked with blood. He dropped his knife and looked around before darting across an eight-lane road and fleeing the scene.
The victims were rushed to a nearby hospital. The man survived after emergency surgery; Kim did not. Within 30 minutes, she succumbed to her heart, lung, liver and rib injuries and was pronounced dead.
Seventeen years later, the suspected killer, 51-year-old Hwang Joo-yeon, remains one of Korea’s most wanted fugitives.
![A police officer investigates near Seoul Express Bus Terminal in Seocho District, southern Seoul, where Hwang Joo-yeon allegedly killed his ex-wife and stabbed another man on June 17, 2008. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/07/261a9f47-ce81-41d0-b4c9-e1c9a59fc53e.jpg)
A police officer investigates near Seoul Express Bus Terminal in Seocho District, southern Seoul, where Hwang Joo-yeon allegedly killed his ex-wife and stabbed another man on June 17, 2008. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Divorce and reunion
Hwang and Kim married in 1997 and lived in Namwon, North Jeolla. The marriage, marred by domestic violence and Hwang’s pathological jealousy, ended in divorce in January 2003.
The separation didn’t last. Hwang tearfully begged forgiveness, promising he would never be violent again, and with their young daughter to consider, the couple reunited the following year.
The reunion was also short-lived.
In March 2006, the couple divorced for the second and final time. According to Kim's sister, who spoke to SBS's investigative program "Unanswered Questions" (1992-) in 2019, Hwang told his wife he wanted to live with another woman he was seeing. The daughter moved in with the father, living apart from the mother, who suffered from cancer.
By 2008, Kim had also moved on. The man stabbed alongside her that day was her new boyfriend, someone she had been dating for just two months.
Hwang had repeatedly tried to contact Kim, desperate to find out where she was, but she refused to meet him. To get her to agree to contact, he used their daughter, sending an email saying he would hand over custody.
![The blue Hyundai Porter truck driven by Hwang Joo-yeon carries a wardrobe and other items, including an ax and a knife. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/07/351fb360-150c-4071-a13d-05146a15b511.jpg)
The blue Hyundai Porter truck driven by Hwang Joo-yeon carries a wardrobe and other items, including an ax and a knife. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
Believing she was going to see her daughter, Kim responded to Hwang and decided to show up at the terminal — only to be met with a knife.
After the attack, police found Hwang’s truck in the parking garage. The open cargo area was covered with a blue plastic tarp. Beneath it were a hatchet, knife, shovel, sack, large plastic bag and a wardrobe big enough to fit an adult, according to police.
The daughter had already left after contacting a relative in Seoul, as her father did not return for hours.
A fugitive vanishes
“Has he really still not been caught?”
The question appears again and again in the comments section of YouTube videos about the case, even those uploaded years later. Many express disbelief that Hwang has managed to evade capture for so long, noting how familiar his face looks after all this time.
He has appeared on wanted posters for more than a decade, long enough for ordinary residents to recognize him. So where is he now?
The day after the murder, Hwang appeared on subway surveillance cameras multiple times.
At Sindorim Station, one of Seoul's busiest transit hubs, he called his former brother-in-law, Kim's brother, from a payphone on the platform. He asked him to take care of his daughter.
He added that he would kill himself.
![CCTV footage shows Hwang Joo-yeon walking along the platform at Beomgye Station in Anyang, Gyeonggi, on June 18, 2008. [SCREEN CAPTURE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/07/efee31e8-4c67-49ef-becc-db58cdfc68c4.jpg)
CCTV footage shows Hwang Joo-yeon walking along the platform at Beomgye Station in Anyang, Gyeonggi, on June 18, 2008. [SCREEN CAPTURE]
An hour later, cameras captured him boarding a train at Yeongdeungpo District Office Station in western Seoul, then exiting at Gangnam Station in the south. Minutes later, he was seen again — this time getting on a train at Sadang Station, getting off at Samgakji, reboarding and finally exiting at Beomgye Station in Anyang, Gyeonggi.
That was the last time he was physically seen on a surveillance camera.
On July 10, around three weeks after the stabbing took place, Hwang appeared online. He had logged into a farming machinery website using his personal account from a PC bang, or an internet cafe, in Bangbae-dong, Seocho District, just blocks from where the murder had occurred.
The PC bang had no surveillance cameras.
Many netizens say they are surprised Hwang has never been caught, particularly given his distinctive appearance.
According to police records, he is about 180 centimeters (5 feet, 11 inches) tall and speaks with a Jeolla accent. His ears are unusual, with the right ear visibly deformed, possibly from years of contact sports such as boxing or Muay Thai. His face shows noticeable asymmetry.
He was also, by many accounts, socially adept. Acquaintances described him as articulate and persuasive, with strong business instincts. Over the years, he moved through multiple jobs: a farmer, a farming equipment broker and a senior figure in a Ponzi-style marketing operation.
Suicide or perfect concealment?
Over the years, countless theories have emerged about what happened to Hwang. Some believe he fled the country. Others think he may have taken his own life shortly after the murder.
Based on Hwang's call with his brother-in-law, where he said he would kill himself, Kim's mother told the SBS investigative program that she suspected he may have died by suicide.
But no body has ever been found.
Police believe Hwang stayed in Korea, as fleeing would have required significant money and the help of a broker, resources they believed Hwang would not have had.
![Wanted posters of Hwang Joo-yeon distributed by Seoul Seocho Police Station [SEOUL SEOCHO POLICE STATION]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2026/04/07/547785e7-6615-4c46-8863-8a0b0042a71d.jpg)
Wanted posters of Hwang Joo-yeon distributed by Seoul Seocho Police Station [SEOUL SEOCHO POLICE STATION]
Some believe he is still alive, hiding somewhere in the country, protected by acquaintances who never turned him in. Some even speculate that he underwent plastic surgery to avoid detection.
Tracing back to Hwang's last digital activity at the PC bang, he used the pseudonym Lee Beom-joon and a resident registration number that started with 2 — a number only given to women — to log on to the computer.
Later, police found that the residence number belonged to a hostess who worked at an entertainment bar. The police attempted to contact her, but her phone number had already been deactivated.
Hwang's friends, who were contacted by the SBS program, reacted defensively. One even threatened the reporters, saying, "He's like family to me. The case is over, and I don't want to help. I told you what I think, so don't come. I might hit you if you do."
According to an investigator at the time, Hwang often said to his friends, “I don’t understand why criminals get caught. I’m confident I won’t be caught.”
BY CHO JUNG-WOO [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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