Teenagers arrested for murder, burial of friend

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

National

Sun, October 1, 2023 | 14:46

Teenagers arrested for murder, burial of friend

Posted : 2010-06-22 19:06

Updated : 2010-06-22 19:06

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff reporter

Two teenagers were arrested and four more were being questioned Tuesday on suspicions of murdering a girl, mutilating her dead body and trying to dispose of it in the Han River.

The adolescents cut the deceased’s throat to drain the corpse of blood, in order to lessen the weight they had to carry. Even experienced police officers called the case “horrendous and astonishing.”

According to police at Mapo, western Seoul, a 19-year-old Lee and 15-year-old Chung have been arrested while four others including Chung’s girlfriend Ahn and her friend Choi are still being questioned over the murder of a 15-year-old Kim on June 12.

Choi, Ahn and three other acquaintances became acquainted with Kim through an online community of teenagers who had run away from home.

They were mostly middle or high school dropouts and did not have a job. Kim, whose parents were staying at another region for work, often hung out with them.

However, when Choi heard that Kim had been talking behind their backs calling them “slutty,” she beat Kim up for four days. The other four joined in and beat her to death.

Choi got Chung to ask Lee for help in disposing of the body. The murderers and their accomplice, copying crime animation films, hung Kim’s dead body upside down, cut her throat and drained all the blood out of it.

They wrapped it with towels and blankets and carried it to Yanghwa Bridge over the Han River in a taxi on June 13. When the driver asked what they were carrying, they said it was a sculpture for an art festival.

They tied rocks, bricks and other heavy objects to the body before throwing it into the river. However, it floated to the surface the next day. Police traced Kim’s whereabouts and visited Choi’s house and found the same type of towel.

An investigator said, “The criminals even conducted an exorcism to get rid of Kim’s ghost.” They said they have slept well and were happy before being caught.

He said they seemed to have no sense of guilt or fear. “They acted very natural in their crime and to be honest, we don’t know what to say about them,” he added.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr