Police: "Tip Received of 'Unidentified Male Entering Han River' on Son Jeongmin's Disappearance Day"... 7 Witnesses Investigated (Comprehensive)

Group Fishing Nearby Witnessed
Judged Not an Emergency, Did Not Report
Did Not See Person Entering Water
Police Conduct On-Site Investigation...Identifying Identity

On the 16th, when rain fell nationwide, participants are commemorating the late Son Jeong-min at the "Peace Rally for the Late Son Jeong-min" held near the water taxi dock at Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] The police investigating the case of university student Son Jeong-min (22), who went missing at Seoul Hangang Park and was later found dead, are verifying the relevance with witnesses who reported seeing an unidentified man entering the Hangang River.

On the 18th, the Seocho Police Station in Seoul announced that on the 25th of last month at around 4:40 a.m., seven people fishing near the scene reported seeing an unidentified man walking into the Hangang River, and the police are currently checking the connection to the case.

However, the identity of the person entering the water seen by these witnesses has not been confirmed so far. The witnesses did not see the person coming out of the water and did not report to the fire department or other authorities, thinking it was not an emergency situation.

The witnesses were understood to have stayed at the scene from around 10 p.m. on the 24th of last month until about 5 a.m. the next day. The police contacted the witnesses after checking 154 vehicles that entered and exited Hangang Park during the time Son went missing. The police first contacted the witnesses at around 9:30 a.m. on the 12th and completed their investigation by around 10 p.m. the following day.

Among the seven, one person testified that at around 4:33 a.m., he took night photos of Jamsu Bridge and Hannam Bridge, then smoked a cigarette to stop fishing, and saw a person submerged up to the knees. He estimated the smoking time to be about five minutes and believes he saw the person entering the water around 4:40 a.m. Another witness stated that based on hairstyle and physique, the person entering the water was male. It was reported that the seven were not all together from the beginning but gathered gradually after two people met.

On the 17th and 18th, the police conducted an on-site investigation to verify the credibility of the report. The witnesses were located about 80 meters to the right when facing the Hangang River from the point where the unidentified man entered the water.

Five of the witnesses directly saw the man walking into the river as if swimming near the riverside close to the Banpo Hangang Park water taxi dock, and two others said they heard splashing sounds along with sounds like "Ah, uh." The police reenacted the scene at the location where the witnesses were sitting at a time similar to the disappearance and reportedly could hear the sounds as well.

The police are continuing to secure additional witnesses and analyze closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage. They are also looking for people captured as dots on CCTV footage from the Rabbit Hole CCTV, located on the left side of the entry point toward Banpo Bridge and Jamsu Bridge, where witnesses are believed to have been present. The police collected soil samples from the socks Son was wearing at the time and requested the National Forensic Service to compare them with soil from the Hangang riverside lawn, the boundary between land and water, and soil under the water surface. They also commissioned soil analysis of clothing submitted by Son’s friend A.

Additionally, the police are checking six men whose whereabouts remain unknown among 63 missing persons cases reported to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency between the 24th and 25th of last month.

A police official said, "From the early stages of the investigation, unverified information has been spreading on the internet as if it were true, causing unnecessary confusion and dispersing investigative resources, which has made the investigation somewhat difficult. We would like to reiterate that we are making every effort to verify Son’s movements before his death and ask the public to trust the police investigation and wait for the results rather than raising unconfirmed suspicions."

Son went missing after drinking with A near the Banpo Hangang Park water taxi boarding area from around 11 p.m. on the 24th of last month until about 2 a.m. the next day. His body was found underwater in the Hangang River not far from the disappearance site on the 30th of last month. The autopsy suggested that the cause of death was drowning.