"Father Arrested on Suspicion of Killing Teenage Siblings Over Fear That Stepmother Would Keep Bullying Them"

An arrest warrant has been issued for a father who killed his two teenage children and then attempted to take his own life.

On the 30th, the chief judge in charge of detention warrants at Changwon District Court in Gyeongnam announced that after a pre-arrest suspect hearing (warrant substantive examination), an arrest warrant was issued around 6 p.m. that day for Mr. A, in his 50s, due to concerns that he might flee.

According to the Gimhae Jungbu Police Station and Changwon District Court, Mr. A is suspected of causing the deaths of 17-year-old Ms. B and 16-year-old Mr. C around 12:15 p.m. on the 28th in a nearby mountain area in Najon-ri, Saengnim-myeon, Gimhae City.

The police received a report from a teacher that Mr. A’s children, who were supposed to return to school starting Monday after a home field trip last week, did not attend school. They began a search using cellphone location tracking and other methods.

On that day, the police confirmed that Ms. B and Mr. C were found dead inside a 1-ton truck parked in the mountain, and they discovered Mr. A nearby in a self-harmed state, leading to his emergency arrest.

Mr. A was taken to a hospital for treatment and admitted to the crime during police questioning.

It is known that he gave his children drinks laced with sleeping pills and suffocated them after they lost consciousness. An LP gas cylinder for vehicles was found inside the car.

Changwon District Court, Gyeongnam.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

Mr. A remained silent about his motive for the crime but spoke out three days after his arrest, on the 30th.

He stated that although he had intended to make an extreme choice, he committed the crime out of concern that his children, whom he raised alone after divorce, would continue to suffer harm from his 70-year-old mother who habitually bullied and abused the two children.

The police said that Mr. A’s younger sister testified that their mother, Ms. D, never bullied her grandchildren, presenting conflicting claims, and thus they cannot definitively conclude whether child abuse occurred or determine the motive.

It is reported that there were no issues related to Mr. A’s debts or economic problems.

During the police investigation, it was revealed that Mr. A had been planning the crime for about a month, visiting hospitals multiple times to obtain sleeping pills.

His application for a field trip at his children’s school before the crime was found to be an attempt to create final memories with his children.

Mr. A traveled between Namhae and Busan before the crime, and on the day before, he stopped in Busan to show his children the high school he graduated from and spent the last night at a hotel.

He reportedly expressed feelings of guilt and remorse for surviving alone.

The police plan to summon Ms. D, the mother, as a witness to verify the facts related to Mr. A’s statements and will deploy profilers to investigate the exact motive based on Mr. A’s psychological state.

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