Suraksan murder suspect apologizes to victim

A South Korean man, suspected of murdering a 63-year-old woman on a mountain trail, apologized to the victim before taking part in a police reenactment of the crime scene on Friday. 

The ex-murder convict Kim Hak-bong, 61, is suspected of stabbing the victim to death in her neck and stomach in the early hours of Sunday near the entrance of the Mount Suraksan trail on northeastern Seoul. He turned himself in on the same day. 

“I am sorry to the victim and her family,” Kim told reporters, when stepping out of Dobong Police Station to visit the crime scene in the morning. “I have nothing to say. I don’t know why I killed her.” 

While he dodged the question on his motive, he hinted that he killed the woman to steal her money.

“I checked her pocket, but I couldn’t find anything,” he said.
Kim allegedly said during the police probe that he had been hungry and wanted to buy himself a meal. He first blackmailed the victim for money, but ended up killing her as she screamed, according to police officials. 

During the on-site reenactment, the police made him show how he had approached the victim and stabbed her.

Angry residents shouted at him at the scene, saying “What is going on in this quiet neighborhood?” or “He should be sentenced to death.” 

Kim completed serving a 15-year-term in jail in January on charges of robbery and murder. He allegedly had financial problems and lived on the streets before he committed the crime.

The police are looking into his criminal motive and checking his medical records for signs of mental illness.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)