Suspect Arrested After 22 Years in Jeju Lawyer Murder Case

Police: "The statute of limitations is suspended during overseas evasion"

Jeju Police Agency applies for arrest warrant on charges of murder solicitation and threats

Suspect Kim Mo, involved in the murder case of a Jeju lawyer, was arrested locally in Cambodia and repatriated to Korea on the 18th. The police have applied for an arrest warrant against Kim on charges of murder solicitation and intimidation. (Photo by Yonhap News)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] The suspect in the ‘Jeju Lawyer Murder Case,’ which was recorded as a representative unsolved case after the statute of limitations expired 21 years and 9 months after the incident, has been arrested. The police judged that the statute of limitations was suspended during the suspect’s stay abroad and applied for an arrest warrant on charges of murder solicitation.

The Jeju Provincial Police Agency announced that they arrested Kim Mo (55), a former gangster, on charges of soliciting the murder of lawyer Lee Mo (44 at the time of the incident) and applied for an arrest warrant on the 19th. The pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) for Kim is scheduled to be held at the Jeju District Court on the 21st.

According to the police, Kim is suspected of soliciting the murder of lawyer Lee, who was found dead in his parked car in an alley in Samdo-dong, Jeju City, on November 5, 1999. Lee, a former prosecutor, was found collapsed and dead in the driver’s seat of his car parked near Jeju Buk Elementary School in a residential area. The crime scene was so gruesome with blood everywhere that it shocked Korean society deeply.

At the time, the police conducted a large-scale investigation to solve the case but found no clues such as murder weapons or footprints. Later, the police even offered a reward of 10 million won and continued the investigation, but after a year passed without any suspects or witnesses appearing, they eventually disbanded the dedicated investigation team.

Originally, the statute of limitations for this case expired on November 4, 2014, 15 years after the incident, making it one of South Korea’s representative permanent unsolved cases. However, the case resurfaced in June 2020 through the SBS investigative journalism program “I Want to Know That.”

At that time, Kim, who was staying abroad, voluntarily gave an interview to the program and partially confessed to his crime. Accordingly, the police registered Kim on July 1, 2020, on charges of murder solicitation and launched a reinvestigation.

Subsequently, Kim was arrested by local Cambodian police at the end of June this year on charges of illegal stay and was recently repatriated to South Korea. The police are focusing their investigation on whether Kim directly committed the crime and on any possible masterminds behind it.

Kang Kyung-nam, head of the violent crimes division at Jeju Police Agency, said at a briefing on the 20th, “Since this is a very old case widely known socially and there are many legal issues to overcome, the investigation is very challenging. After carefully analyzing precedents related to the suspect’s overseas travel, we concluded that the statute of limitations still applies and are proceeding with the investigation.”

Kang also explained, “Although the suspect was registered on charges of murder solicitation based on his confession through the broadcast and the investigation has been ongoing, we plan to keep all charges open during the investigation. We will investigate whether he directly committed the crime, whether there is a higher-up involved, and if so, the motive, covering all aspects.”

The police also applied for an arrest warrant on charges of intimidation based on threatening messages Kim sent to the production team after the “I Want to Know That” broadcast.

Meanwhile, the police stated that Kim testified during the investigation that he confessed to the crime believing that if the crime became known through the broadcast, he could prepare travel expenses to return to Korea. He thought that by appeasing the victim’s restless spirit and clearing the victim’s family of false accusations, he could receive a reward from the bereaved family.

Earlier, in April this year, the police obtained an arrest warrant and issued an Interpol red notice for Kim. After traveling dozens of times between Korea and foreign countries following the crime, Kim, who was staying in Cambodia, was arrested by local police on June 23 on charges of illegal stay while moving by vehicle.

After Cambodia decided to deport Kim on August 5, the police proceeded with the repatriation process. Kim was repatriated through Incheon Airport at 8 p.m. on August 18 and is currently under investigation at the Jeju Police Agency.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won captain@asiae.co.kr

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