Two Suspects Arrested in 'Yeongdeungpo Building Owner Murder' Case... Silent Response

Two suspects have been placed at risk of detention on charges of conspiring to murder a building owner in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul.

Seoul Yeongdeungpo Police Station [Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 15th, at 10:30 a.m., Judge Kim Ji-suk, in charge of warrants at the Seoul Southern District Court, conducted a detention hearing for a man in his 30s, Kim, who is accused of murder, and a man in his 40s, Cho, who is charged with instigating murder and evidence tampering.

When Kim appeared at the court at around 10:16 a.m. that day, he did not respond to questions from reporters such as "Did you commit the crime after receiving orders to kill?" and "Since when did you plan this?" Cho also did not answer questions like "Do you admit to the charge of instigating murder?" and "Did you decide to commit the crime due to redevelopment conflicts?"

Kim is accused of stabbing and killing Mr. A, an octogenarian owner of a building, on the rooftop of a building in Yeongdeungpo-dong, Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, at around 10 a.m. on the 12th. After the crime, Kim hid in a nearby motel and then fled by taking the KTX bound for Gangneung from Yongsan Station at around 5:30 p.m. on the same day. The police tracked Kim’s escape route and, in cooperation with the Gyeonggi Southern Provincial Police Agency and Gangwon Provincial Police Agency, arrested him at Gangneung Station four hours after the escape.

Cho, the owner of a motel near the building where the incident occurred, is suspected of tampering with evidence by deleting CCTV footage that showed Kim’s escape route. He is also accused of harboring a grudge against Mr. A and instructing Kim to kill him. It was understood that Cho had intended to become the head of the redevelopment association for the Yeongdeungpo shantytown, but Mr. A opposed this, leading to conflicts between the two.

According to police investigations, Cho had built a close relationship with Kim, often saying things like "We are like brothers." Cho rented and operated a parking lot from Mr. A, paying a deposit of 10 million won and a monthly rent of 1.2 million won, and in April 2020, he employed Kim as a motel manager and parking attendant. At the time of his urgent arrest, Kim claimed the motive for the murder was that he was "usually looked down upon," but the police also found evidence suggesting that Cho and Kim had agreed on this story before the crime.

The decision on whether to detain the suspects is expected to be made this afternoon.

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