Court issues arrest warrant for Army officer on murder charges
A military officer enters the Chuncheon District Court in Chuncheon, 74 kilometers northeast of Seoul, on Nov. 5, to attend his arrest warrant hearing on charges of murdering a woman and dismembering her body. Yonhap
A court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for a military officer accused of killing a woman, dismembering her body and abandoning the body parts in a remote river.
The officer, identified only as an Army lieutenant colonel in his late 30s, was apprehended in Seoul on Sunday after the victim's body parts were found floating on the Bukhan River in Hwacheon, Gangwon Province, 88 kilometers northeast of the capital, the previous day.
The Chuncheon District Court in Gangwon Province approved pretrial detention for the officer on murder and other charges, citing risk of destruction of evidence and flight.
The officer was asked several questions by reporters before entering the court but was tight-lipped. He reportedly admitted to all his charges during the court hearing that lasted about 10 minutes.
The officer and the victim, known as a civilian military employee, reportedly served in the same Army unit. He is accused of strangling the victim to death during a wrangle in his car at their unit's parking lot on Oct. 25. (Yonhap)