The Past of the 'Dumulmeori Body Abandonment' Suspect... Forced a Middle School Girl into Prostitution with 150 Clients
by Seo Jiyeong
Published 29 Apr.2026 10:09(KST)
Updated 29 Apr.2026 10:42(KST)
Forced a 13-Year-Old Child Into Prostitution 150 Times in the Past
A man in his 30s, surnamed Sung, who is suspected of abandoning a corpse at Dumulmeori on the Namhan River in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province, was also previously convicted for forcing a minor into prostitution.
According to the court and other sources on April 29, Sung was sentenced in December 2014 to 5 years and 6 months in prison for 13 offenses, including violations of the Act on the Protection of Children and Juveniles from Sexual Abuse (such as coercion), the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (such as retaliatory threats), incitement to special theft, and assault. He was also ordered to complete 40 hours of a sexual violence treatment program.
According to the ruling at the time, Sung provided accommodation and meals to a 13-year-old runaway in 2013 and proposed, "Let’s make money through prostitution until we can get a rented room." He then searched for prostitution clients using another runaway teenager’s smartphone and, between November and December of that year, forced the victim to engage in prostitution about 150 times. Sung is believed to have received an average of about 800,000 won per day from the victim.
When the victim could no longer endure the repeated forced prostitution and ran away, Sung made three other runaway teenagers under his control sell roasted sweet potatoes to cover living expenses, and took about 360,000 won in proceeds over nine days. It was also found that, after one runaway teenager fled from his house, Sung ordered an acquaintance to bring the teenager back, then repeatedly assaulted the teenager’s face and back.
On January 14 of this year, Sung was indicted and placed in custody on charges of murder and abandonment of a corpse after strangling a man in his 30s, with whom he lived in his residence in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, and abandoning the body at Dumulmeori on the Namhan River in Yangpyeong-gun, Gyeonggi Province. Sung is accused of habitually assaulting and threatening the victim, who reportedly had impaired judgment, and of ongoing "gaslighting." He allegedly strangled the victim during a quarrel over money. Sung was handed over for trial in February on these charges.
The 14th Criminal Division (Chief Judge Oh Byunghee) of the Seoul Northern District Court is scheduled to hold a hearing on Sung’s case on May 7. The first hearing was originally planned for March 12 but was postponed four times due to requests for a change in the hearing date from Sung’s side.
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