Decayed corpse found in Gangwon

The police yesterday found a corpse that may be that of a 58-year-old Incheon woman killed by her son over a money dispute.

The Incheon Nambu Police Precinct reported yesterday it found the body wrapped up in a blanket in a mountainous area in Jeongseon County, Gangwon, at around 9:10 a.m.

Because the body is decayed, police said it couldn’t identify it immediately. It sent the corpse’s teeth to the National Forensic Service for examination.

The police suspect it is the body of Kim Ae-sook, who was reported missing by her second-oldest son last month. Kim and her oldest son, Jung Hwa-seok, 32, have been missing since Aug. 13. The police suspect Kim’s second son, a 29-year-old motorbike delivery man, murdered the two.

The police said the suspect frequently traveled to Kangwon Land Casino to gamble, has 80 million won ($74,480) in debt, and had frequent disputes over money with his mother.

Kangwon Land is the only casino in Korea open to Korean nationals. It is located hours away from Seoul in Gangwon.

Neighbors of the family in Incheon told the police that the second son demanded 50 million to 100 million won from his mother, according to Yonhap News Agency. Kim allegedly owned a studio apartment building worth 1 billion won in Incheon.

Kim was traced to an ATM machine near her home in Incheon, where she withdrew 200,000 won on Aug. 13 at around 8:30 p.m. There is no record of her since.

Kim’s 31-year-old son has been unaccounted for since calling his friend at 7:40 p.m. the same day.

The suspect reported to the police that his mother was missing on Aug. 16.

The police arrested Jung on Aug. 22 but released him 16 hours later after failing to come up with any evidence that he murdered either his mother or brother.

He was arrested again Sunday and the body was found yesterday.

The police said interrogation of the suspect’s wife led them to the body. She told them that her husband killed his mother and buried her in Jeongseon County and also killed his brother, burying him in Uljin County, North Gyeongsang. The investigators said the suspect bought two pairs of gloves, four rolls of duct tape and a detergent three days before the two disappeared, which could have been used in the killings.

The police obtained evidence that the suspect went to Jeongseon County in Gangwon and North Gyeongsang’s Uljin County on Aug. 14 and 15.

The police are expected to ask prosecutors for a pre-trial detention warrant today for the son while trying to locate the older brother’s body in Uljin.

BY KANG JIN-KYU [jkkang2@joongang.co.kr]