S Korean man who encased partner in cement arrested

A man in South Korea has confessed to murdering his girlfriend and hiding her body in cement – 16 years after she was reported as missing.

The man, who is in his 50s, told local police he hit the woman with a blunt object during an argument at his apartment in the southern city of Geoje.

He then placed her dead body into a suitcase, which he buried under a layer of bricks and cement on his balcony.

It remained there unnoticed until last month, when a maintenance worker discovered it while drilling, local media reported.

The body – which had been partially preserved by the suitcase – was identified as the missing woman’s through fingerprint analysis. An autopsy revealed that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head.

The man, who police are calling Mr A, was not living in the apartment when the body was discovered but was quickly found and arrested.

He told police that he had been living with the woman for about five years in the studio apartment in Geoje, before an argument in October 2008 culminating in him hitting her with a blunt object.

He then buried the suitcase containing her body under a layer of bricks and cement on a small third-floor balcony, which could only be accessed from one of the bedrooms.

Police say he carried on living in the apartment for another eight years, before he was arrested on drugs charges in 2016.

Since then, the landlord of the apartment had left it empty, using it as storage space.

The woman – who was in her 30s at the time – was not reported missing by her family until three years after her death, the authorities said.

They had reportedly lost touch with their daughter and – when they came to look for her in Geoje – were told she had broken up with Mr A and left the city.

It was only this year when the owner of the building ordered some waterproofing work that the 16-year mystery could be solved.

Police say they are continuing with their investigations and are expected to charge the man with murder.