Home > National > Social Affairs

Cheongju woman allegedly kills husband before suicide

Published: 10 Oct. 2025, 14:31

An emblem of police [YONHAP]

A woman in her 50s allegedly killed her husband, who had dementia, before taking her own life on Chuseok, police in Cheongju said Friday.

Officers received a report around 11 a.m. Monday that “a person was found lying in a flower bed” at an apartment complex in the city’s Sangdang District. Police later confirmed the woman had jumped from her apartment veranda.

Her husband, a man in his 60s, was discovered unconscious in the passenger's seat of a car parked in the building’s underground garage. He was taken to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead the following day.

Investigators believe the woman called her husband out of the nursing hospital where he was staying around 10:10 a.m. Monday, telling staff that she would “take him out briefly for a meal,” before killing him inside the car.

Footage retrieved from the car’s black box reportedly captured the woman’s voice telling her husband, “It’s better to die.”

No visible injuries or potential weapons were found at the scene, and police have yet to determine the exact cause of death. An autopsy has been requested from the National Forensic Service to confirm the man’s cause of death.

Police said the man had suffered from dementia since experiencing a stroke in 2023 and had been admitted to the nursing hospital about 20 days earlier. The woman was reportedly facing debts of around 1 billion won ($704,000) due to business failures.

If you or someone you know is feeling emotionally distressed or struggling with thoughts of suicide, LifeLine Korea can be contacted at 1588-9191 or the Crisis Counseling Center at 1577-0199. The Seoul Global Center offers English-language counseling, contact 02-2075-4180 (+1) to arrange a session. Other international helplines can be found at www.befrienders.org.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY JUNG SI-NAE [[email protected]]