70-Year-Old Sent to Prosecution Custody for Killing Sanitation Worker in Sungnyemun Underground Passage

Arrest Warrant Issued on the 4th

A man in his 70s who was arrested on charges of murdering a sanitation worker working in downtown Seoul in the early morning has been handed over to the prosecution.

A man in his 70s, Mr. A, who is accused of murdering a sanitation worker cleaning in downtown Seoul during the early morning hours, is attending a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (warrant hearing) held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong on the afternoon of the 4th.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

On the 7th, the Namdaemun Police Station in Seoul sent Mr. Ri to the prosecution on charges of murder.

According to the police, Mr. Ri is accused of stabbing Mr. Jo, a sanitation worker in his 60s working for a service company in Jung-gu, multiple times with a weapon in an underground passage near Sungnyemun at around 5:10 a.m. on the 2nd.

Mr. Ri testified to the police that he committed the crime because he thought Mr. Jo, whom he had known since May last year, was ignoring him. It was found that Mr. Ri was unemployed and lived in a lodging house near the Dongja-dong gosiwon village in Yongsan-gu, alternating with a homeless life. Mr. Ri was urgently arrested in an alley near the Dongja-dong gosiwon village 3 hours and 40 minutes after the crime.

The court issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Ri on the 4th, citing "fear of escape."