14-year sentence confirmed for man who killed girlfriend, hid body in cement
The rooftop studio in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, where a man killed his girlfriend and hid her body 16 years ago. Courtesy of Geoje Police Station.
A man in his 50s who murdered his live-in girlfriend and hid her body in cement in a rooftop apartment has been sentenced to 14 years in prison, 16 years after the crime.
According to the legal sources Wednesday, the Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s ruling that sentenced the 59-year-old man, surnamed Kim, to 14 years for murder and an additional two years and six months for violating the Narcotics Control Act.
Kim had been living with a woman in her 30s in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province, since May 2007. In October 2008, after finding her with another man, Kim bludgeoned her to death following an argument.
He then placed her body in a suitcase, sealed it with bricks and cement on the apartment’s outdoor veranda, and continued living there.
The victim’s remains were discovered in August last year, 16 years after the killing, when the landlord removed the cement structure during waterproofing work. Her fingerprints were still intact, allowing police to identify Kim as the suspect.
While under police investigation, Kim was also found to have purchased and used 0.5 grams of methamphetamine in August 2024. However, the charge of concealing the body was not prosecuted because the statute of limitations had expired.
The lower court sentenced him to 14 years for murder and two and a half years for drug use. “The defendant’s act of concealing the victim’s body severely hindered the discovery of the truth," the lower court ruled. The appellate and Supreme Courts both upheld the ruling.
This article from the Hankook Ilbo, the sister publication of The Korea Times, is translated by generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.