A man in his 30s was apprehended Monday for allegedly kidnapping his friend, who had lured him into gambling, and burying him in a grave for hours.
According to the Suseo Police Station in southern Seoul, the man identified as a 36-year-old Yu, a marketing officer at a department store, was taken into custody on suspicion of attempted murder.
Yu lost about 40 million won at an illegal gambling parlor to which he had been taken by his colleague, identified as a 48-year-old Lee, last month. Yu kidnapped Lee and took him to a public cemetery in Gayeong, near Seoul. Yu buried his colleague in a 1.5-meter-deep makeshift grave with his head above the ground, interrogating him over whether he was part of a gambling fraud.
Yu was also suspected of stabbing a creditor identified as a 48-year-old Kim, who loaned him the 40 million won he lost.
Police said that Yu went to a cafe in Sangbong-dong, Seoul, on Aug. 13, together with his colleague Lee and lost all he had in a poker game. He borrowed the 40 million won from Kim, whom he was introduced to through Lee.
Yu turned out be a compulsive gambler, losing all of the 50 million won he had inherited from his parents in addition to the borrowed 40 million won.
"I imitated a scene from a movie," Yu was quoted as telling police. "I didn't have any intention to kill."