Man in his 20s hid for 4 hours, killed mother-in-law and abducted wife; police release suspect Kim Seong-woo’s mug shot

[Financial News] A man in his 20s who stabbed and killed his mother-in-law with a weapon and abducted his wife before fleeing has had his personal information released. The incident took place in a residential neighborhood in Songpa District, Seoul.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency convened the Personal Information Disclosure Review Committee on the afternoon of the 19th and decided to release the name, age and mug shot (a photograph documenting a criminal’s appearance) of suspect Kim Seong-woo, 26, who was detained on charges including the murder of a lineal ascendant and aggravated unlawful confinement. Kim’s personal information will be posted on the agency’s website for 30 days, from 6 p.m. that day through the 18th of next month.
The committee said, “The gravity of the harm and the brutality of the methods used in the crime have been established, and there is also sufficient evidence to prove the crime,” adding, “After comprehensively considering the public interest, including preventing repeat offenses and crime, we voted to disclose the personal information.” The measure was taken under the Act on the Disclosure of Personal Information of Suspects in Specific Serious Crimes and Others.
According to police, Kim is suspected of going to his in-laws’ home in Munjeong-dong, Songpa District, Seoul, at around 5:38 a.m. on the 11th and stabbing his mother-in-law, who was in her 50s, to death. The victim was rushed to a nearby hospital in cardiac arrest but eventually died.
Immediately after the crime, Kim forced his wife, who is in her 20s, into a vehicle and fled the scene. After pursuing him, police arrested Kim at around 12:35 p.m. that same day—about seven hours after the crime—on a hillside in Yangyang County, Gangwon Province, and rescued his wife. On the 13th, the Seoul Eastern District Court issued a detention warrant, citing “concerns that he might flee or destroy evidence.”
During police questioning, Kim reportedly acknowledged most of the allegations but claimed the crime was impulsive, saying, “I was upset when my wife tried to file a lawsuit to annul our marriage,” and maintaining that he had not planned the killing in advance.
Police, however, are continuing their investigation on the assumption that the crime was a planned act of revenge. The investigation found that on the day of the crime, Kim had waited near his in-laws’ home for about four hours while carrying a weapon. The discovery of weapons in addition to the one used in the crime also supports the theory that it was planned.
Kim had previously been booked on suspicion of domestic violence and was under investigation last August. The bereaved family has argued that the crime was an act of revenge motivated by resentment over his wife’s domestic violence report and her filing for divorce and to annul the marriage, and has called for severe punishment and the release of his personal information.
The Seoul Songpa Police Station plans to complete its supplementary investigation to substantiate the allegations of premeditation and revenge, and refer Kim to the prosecution (the Office of Public Prosecution) in custody on the 20th.



[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter