Police Close Investigation into 'Saengsubyung Incident'... Conclude "Perpetrator Targeted Victim Due to Personnel Grievances"

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The police have concluded the so-called "bottled water incident" that occurred at a company in Seocho-gu, Seoul, as a solo crime committed by an employee of the company and have closed the investigation.

On the 16th, the Seoul Seocho Police Station stated in a briefing on the investigation results, "Through investigations of devices used in the office such as mobile phones and tablets, as well as inquiries with surrounding individuals, no evidence of accomplices was found."

On the 18th of last month, two employees at the company drank water from bottled water placed on the office desk and lost consciousness, collapsing. One of them fell into a critical condition and eventually passed away. Kang, a man in his 30s who was a colleague of the victims, was found dead at his home the day after the incident after ingesting poison.

According to the autopsy results from the National Forensic Service, the same type of poison found in the blood of the victims was detected in Kang. The police secured internet records showing that Kang purchased the poison used in the crime in September and found the poison container at his home. However, no poison was detected in the bottled water collected from the scene.

The police explained, "Since the bottled water was collected eight hours after the incident, we could not obtain evidence to confirm that the victims drank from that bottle." It is possible that the bottled water was swapped or that it did not contain the water the victims drank, or that the victims collapsed after drinking a beverage other than water. However, due to Kang's death, confirming these details was limited.

Additionally, the police faced some difficulties in accurately determining the motive and facts of the crime because the suspect Kang died. No suicide note was found among Kang’s belongings. However, based on statements from company officials, the police estimated that Kang may have been dissatisfied after hearing about a possible transfer to a regional post and appeared to have grievances due to frequent work criticisms. A memo found at Kang’s office desk contained phrases such as "I'm annoyed" and "I should get rid of them," which suggested his motive for the crime.

It was revealed that Kang targeted three specific victims rather than random individuals. On the 10th of the same month, another employee at the company collapsed after drinking a beverage. This employee had been Kang’s roommate in company housing for the past year. The police believe Kang harbored resentment toward this employee for not helping him during difficult times. Kang was also found to have grievances related to work issues with the other two victims. However, it was confirmed that Kang never officially raised or reported these issues to the company.

Regarding the fact that only one of the three who drank the same poison died, the police explained, "There was no way to confirm after the death, but it is presumed to be due to differences in the amount consumed."

Normally, when a suspect dies, the case is closed due to lack of prosecution rights, but the police continued the investigation by registering Kang as a suspect to verify the presence of accomplices. However, based on the evidence so far, they judged that continuing the investigation would be futile and decided to close the case with a "lack of prosecution rights" disposition for Kang’s charges of murder and attempted murder.

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