Police release homicide suspect’s identity

The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency on Thursday revealed the identity of a 23-year-old woman held on suspicion of murdering and dismembering the body of another woman in her 20s.

Police said they decided to make the suspect’s identity public after convening a committee to contemplate the disclosure.

According to police, the suspect is 23-year-old Jeong Yu-jeong.

South Korean law allows police to reveal the identity of a suspect only under certain conditions, where the crime is considered so violent as to undermine social order and with sufficient evidence, in consideration of preventing furtherance of such crimes.

The suspect is reported to have told police earlier the same day that she had wanted to try killing a person.

Police conveyed that the suspect said the motive of the murder stemmed from her interest in crime-related content across the internet and on TV.

It previously was reported that the suspect had argued the murder was accidental, but the recent remark revealed the case was premeditated. Police added that they found the suspect had searched for books and online communities for murder-related information for months.

However, it is reported that the suspect denied she planned the place for disposal of the body, choosing the riverside of Nakdong River for the disposal simply because she used to go there to walk.

Police said the suspect appeared to have targeted women in their 20s on the belief that she could manage to kill such a young woman by herself.

“It’s not yet been confirmed whether she has also contacted another woman,” police added.

It is reported that the suspect met the victim through an app for matching tutors with students. The suspect approached the victim by pretending to be a mother of a middle school student looking for a private English tutor, police said.