“He said he wanted to die together,” yet he fled to Jeonju? ... The Japanese woman’s killer and his actions that don’t add up

[Financial News] A man in his 30s who killed a Japanese woman in her 20s at an officetel in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, continues to make implausible claims that he “was afraid to die alone and wanted to die together.” Meanwhile, it has emerged that the victim was found without a top on, prompting police to broaden their investigation while keeping open the possibility of a sexual motive.
According to the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency and Cheonan Seobuk Police Station on the 31st, A, in his 30s, who was arrested the previous day on suspicion of murder, is suspected of killing B, a Japanese national in her 20s, with a knife at an officetel in Dujeong-dong, Seobuk District, Cheonan, at around 4:20 p.m. on the 28th. A, who was unemployed and drifting between short-term part-time jobs, left the scene immediately after the crime and fled to a lodging establishment in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, at least 100 km away. He was urgently arrested by police at dawn the following day, about eight hours later.
In questioning by police, A said, “I lost about 5 million won on stock investments and couldn’t see a future, so I decided to take my own life,” and added, “I was afraid to die alone, so I killed B and intended for us to die together.”
However, criticism is mounting from within and outside the police that A’s statements are hard to take at face value. The investigation found that the two were not romantically involved and that there was no history of stalking reports. B first met A in Korea last September, then re-entered the country in the middle of this month on short-term stay status; they met for the third time on the day of the incident, investigators believe. The claim that he chose a foreign woman he had met only three or four times as a partner in suicide is itself beyond common sense. His actions also don’t add up: after saying he wanted to die together, he fled elsewhere immediately after killing the victim.
In particular, confirmation that B was found dead with no clothing on her upper body has lent weight to the possibility of a “premeditated crime with a sexual motive.” Early in the investigation, the police station in charge said the case was “unrelated to a sex crime.” But after repeated requests for clarification about the victim’s condition, it changed its position, saying it was “investigating from various angles, including the possibility of a sex crime.” The fact that A prepared a weapon in advance and went to the scene also strengthens suspicions of premeditated murder.
Police are analyzing A’s call records and search history through digital forensics, while also focusing on unlocking B’s phone, which is locked, to establish how the two first made contact and what their relationship was in reality.
The case is also having a major impact in Japan. Leading Japanese media outlets, including Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK), Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings, Inc. (TBS), Kyodo News and The Asahi Shimbun, are giving extensive coverage to the killing of a Japanese national. In Japanese online communities, people are suggesting the two may have met through a “language exchange app,” and calls urging caution in using such apps are spreading. B’s family reportedly tearfully appealed for strict punishment of the perpetrator during a meeting with police the previous day.
[email protected] Moon Young-jin Reporter