Sihwa torso murder suspect nabbed

Kim Ha-il, a Korean Chinese who allegedly killed his wife and abandoned her dismembered body, is taken to Siheung Police Station in Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. / Yonhap

By Lee Kyung-min

Police apprehended an ethnic Korean Chinese man Wednesday for allegedly murdering his wife and dismembering her body before dumping the severed parts in plastic bags at a coastal town.

As he was being taken to a police station, the 47-year-old suspect, Kim Ha-il, told reporters that he killed his wife.

“I killed her during an argument on April 1. I feel guilty for what I have done to my poor wife,” he said.

However, he refused to answer questions about how the victim, surnamed Han, was killed and why he dismembered her body.

Police said they will seek a detention warrant for Kim.

Kim was apprehended near his workplace inside a factory complex in Jeongwang-dong around 10:00 a.m., according to Siheung Police Station.

Police had been following Kim since yesterday when the victim’s identity was confirmed by the National Forensic Service.

An investigation began after the torso of the woman, who was also Korean Chinese, was found on Sunday near Sihwa Seawall in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. Afterwards, other missing body parts were also recovered near where the torso was found.

Police said they reviewed immigration data after confirming that the victim was Korean Chinese and learned that she arrived in Korea in 2013. In documents, she identified Kim as her husband.