Woman Buried in Secret 24 Years Ago, No Investigation Records... "Murderer Cannot Be Punished Due to Expired Statute of Limitations"

Jeonbuk Police Agency Obtains Intelligence 23 Years After Disappearance
Exhumation Work Underway in Gimje... Body Not Found Yet
Jeonbuk Police Official: "No Records Found of Investigation Start or Woman's Whereabouts at That Time"

Last month, police officers from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency conducted an excavation at a construction site in Gimje to recover a body in connection with the abduction, murder, and disposal of a woman in her 20s who went missing in Seoul 24 years ago. /Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] The suspect who murdered a woman who disappeared in Seoul 24 years ago has been caught, and the location of the secret burial has been identified, but no remains have been found. The woman was killed by her boyfriend at the time, and although the police obtained a confession from the suspect, the statute of limitations has expired, making prosecution impossible.

According to the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency on the 9th, in 1997, a family reported to a police station in Seoul that A (28 at the time) had disappeared. A, who had previously worked at a factory, suddenly lost contact with those around her. Since then, no tips have been received about anyone who saw A or knew her whereabouts. There were no signs of life such as renewing her resident registration card, entering or leaving the country, activating a mobile phone, or opening a credit card.

Twenty-three years later, last summer, the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency received a tip that brought the woman’s whereabouts back to light.

The tip stated that A was murdered by her boyfriend at the time and secretly buried, and one of the accomplices demanded money from the main perpetrator to keep silent.

The police confirmed this fact from two accomplices and arrested the main suspect B (47) in Daejeon last June to investigate the circumstances. B revealed the motive, saying, "I was angry because my girlfriend suspected me of cheating." He reportedly disclosed the exact location where A was buried.

The police conducted geological surveys and excavation work six times near a high school in Gimje, where the remains were presumed to be buried, but have not yet found any bones.

Because the incident happened so long ago, a major road has already been built near the school, and it was confirmed that construction had been carried out several times.

Last month, police officers from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency conducted a body excavation operation at a construction site in Gimje.
Photo by Yonhap News

Meanwhile, the police stated that B and others arrested cannot be prosecuted because the statute of limitations has expired. Although the Criminal Procedure Act (known as the Tae-wan Act) that abolished the statute of limitations for murder cases was amended in 2015, it only applies retroactively to cases where the statute of limitations had not yet expired, so it cannot be applied to this case.

The police station in Seoul where the initial report was filed did not have investigation records from that time. There is regret in the fact that if the police had actively investigated the whereabouts and considered the possibility of a violent crime from the moment they received the family’s report, punishment of the suspect or recovery of the remains might have been possible.

A representative from the Jeonbuk Provincial Police Agency said, "Recently, all possibilities are considered when women and youth are reported missing or run away, but it seems that was not the case back then," adding, "There were no records found that the police station had started an investigation or confirmed the woman’s whereabouts."

He continued, "Although prosecution is difficult, the investigative agency’s responsibility to uncover the substantive truth of unsolved murder cases will be carried out to the end."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.