'Geumcheon Lover Murder' 30s Male "Retaliation for Dating Violence Report"... Arrest Warrant to be Requested

Application for Arrest Warrant on Charges of Retaliatory Murder
Police: "Did Not Judge High Risk at Time of Investigation"

A man in his 30s who stabbed his girlfriend with a weapon immediately after being investigated for dating violence has admitted that the crime was an act of retaliation. The police judged that the risk level during the dating violence investigation was not high.

On the 27th, the Geumcheon Police Station in Seoul announced that Kim (33, male), who was urgently arrested and is under investigation on suspicion of killing his partner, admitted that the crime was an act of retaliation for a dating violence report. According to the police investigation, Kim committed the crime just one hour after being sent home following the dating violence incident. The police plan to apply charges of retaliatory murder against Kim and will request an arrest warrant within the day.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the police, Kim is suspected of stabbing his former partner, a woman identified as A (47), multiple times with a weapon in the underground parking lot of a commercial building located in Siheung-dong, Geumcheon-gu, at around 7:17 a.m. the previous day. Immediately after stabbing A, Kim put her in a vehicle and fled. Police, who responded to the report at around 10:40 a.m., tracked Kim through CCTV and other means and urgently arrested him at around 3 p.m. the same day in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, eight hours after the incident. A was found dead in the back seat of the vehicle.

Kim was taken to the police station for voluntary accompaniment and questioned at 5:37 a.m. the previous day following a dating violence report filed by A. A reportedly claimed, "Kim broke the television and changed the password to the front door," and "He pulled my arm several times while demanding to talk." According to the police who responded to the scene, the password had indeed been changed, but there was no sign of property damage. The police investigation revealed that five days before the incident, on the 21st, A had told Kim she wanted to break up, and the two had not met for some time.

During the dating violence investigation, the police judged that Kim was not highly dangerous. When dating violence occurs, the police review a risk checklist based on the victim's statement and assign a score. A police official explained, "We did not determine the risk to be highly elevated," adding, "There is a scoring system for risk assessment, but we subjectively judged it to be dangerous and took a higher-level measure." It was also reported that Kim and A gave consistent statements during the investigation, and the victim, A, expressed no intention to press charges.

A police official also stated, "Unlike stalking punishment laws or special laws on domestic violence, which have legal grounds for restraining orders, there is no such legal basis for dating violence."

The crime occurred just 10 minutes after A finished her investigation and left the police station. Kim, who finished his investigation an hour earlier, saw A’s vehicle parked at a PC bang they often visited and is believed to have returned to A’s house to get a weapon.

A police official said, "The exact time of A’s death will be clarified after an autopsy," and added, "We will strive to find objective evidence regarding the motive for moving to Paju and other aspects of the case."