Police: "Gangnam Kidnapping and Murder Committed for Financial Gain... Planned 2-3 Months Ago" (Update)

Recognized as a Financially Motivated Planned Crime
Victim: Woman in Her Mid-40s

It has been confirmed that the three individuals who committed the kidnapping and murder incident in a residential area of Gangnam, Seoul on the 29th of last month admitted that it was a planned crime motivated by financial gain.

On the 1st, the Seoul Suseo Police Station stated in a briefing, "One of the arrested suspects testified that the crime was committed for financial purposes, and we are verifying the authenticity of this statement," adding, "Based on the testimony and their movements, we believe they selected the victim as a target in advance and had been stalking or preparing tools for the crime for 2 to 3 months, and we are investigating accordingly."

They explained that two of the suspects designated the victim as the target and conspired to commit the crime, while the remaining one appeared to have provided the tools for the crime.

The suspects were urgently arrested on the 31st on charges of kidnapping a female victim in front of an apartment in Yeoksam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul at around 11:48 p.m. on the 29th of last month, then killing her near Daejeon and disposing of the body.

After receiving a witness report, the police tracked the perpetrators through closed-circuit television (CCTV) near the kidnapping scene, arrested two accomplices in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and later apprehended another accomplice in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

According to the police, the victim was confirmed to be a woman in her mid-40s. After selecting the target, the suspects waited near the victim’s office at around 4 p.m. on the day of the incident, the 29th of last month, and followed the victim as she left work at around 7 p.m. to kidnap her.