A 30-year-old Chinese university lecturer surnamed Jung, accused of murdering a Chinese student in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, has partly admitted to the allegations during police questioning.
According to the Gyeongsan Police Station, Jung told investigators he killed the 25-year-old victim, surnamed A, in the early hours of the 20th of this month.
The victim was last seen on closed-circuit television footage outside Jung's home at around 2 a.m. on the 20th. The footage captured her entering Jung's residence with him. She also made her last contact with her family in China at around the same time, according to investigators.
Police and people close to the pair said the victim and Jung had been in a romantic relationship. After killing her, Jung called police himself to report her missing, saying he was her boyfriend and that she had not returned, investigators said. He therefore faces a charge of obstructing the performance of official duties, in addition to murder.
Police searched Jung's residence a day earlier and have since confirmed additional details about his movements around the crime and the locations where the body was dumped. Investigators said the precise time of the killing requires further confirmation through an autopsy and other examinations.
Citing the risk of evidence tampering and flight, police applied for an arrest warrant for Jung on the afternoon of the previous day. The outcome of the pre-detention questioning, held at 10:30 a.m., is expected late in the day. Jung did not answer reporters' questions asking why he committed the crime, what his relationship with the victim was and why he had dressed in women's clothing, and headed to a lawyers' meeting room.
Jung is accused of killing the victim, a Chinese woman in her 20s who had entered the country to receive a graduate school completion certificate. After the killing, he put on her clothes, left with a suitcase and traveled to Dongdaegu Station using public transportation in an apparent attempt to evade investigators.
Police tracked his movements using location data from the victim's mobile phone and CCTV footage, and identified Jung as the prime suspect before arresting him on the afternoon of the 25th of this month. Jung dumped the dismembered body in Gyeonggi Province and other locations, police said. Investigators are considering conducting a psychopathy assessment on Jung.
