'Sister Caregiver Wanted' Suspicious... Was It That Incident?

Posted on a Secondhand Trading Platform Bulletin Board

A suspect in his 20s, who was arrested on charges of luring a female victim by claiming to be looking for a caregiver and then confining her in a pension, has drawn attention online due to a part-time job posting presumed to have been made by him at the time of the crime.

Earlier, the Gapyeong Police Station in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 13th that they had arrested a man in his 20s, identified as Mr. A, on charges including kidnapping and confinement. Mr. A is accused of kidnapping a woman in her 30s, Ms. B, from Sillim-dong, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, around 7 p.m. on the 9th, and confining her for two days at a pension in Gapyeong-gun.

At the time, Ms. B reportedly contacted Mr. A after seeing his post on an application (app) stating he was looking for a caregiver for his younger sister who was paralyzed from the waist down, and was then kidnapped. Police investigations revealed that Mr. A did not have a younger sister with paralysis from the waist down.

Caregiver part-time job posting uploaded on a secondhand trading site on the 9th. Captured from an online community.

After Mr. A’s crime was reported in the news, a post uploaded on the 9th on a secondhand trading platform attracted significant attention online. The circumstances suggested that this post was very similar to Mr. A’s crime, leading some netizens to speculate, "Isn’t this the post the kidnapper actually made?" However, the post has since been deleted from the platform.

The author of the post at the time wrote, "Looking for someone to care for a girl paralyzed from the waist down," and included work and salary details such as △ workplace in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, △ pick-up and drop-off available, △ working hours from 22:00 to 10:00, and △ daily payment of 600,000 won.

The post also explained, "We urgently need someone because the staff suddenly canceled," and added, "There isn’t much to do; you just chat and play with the child, help prepare for sleep, and then after waking up, assist with cleaning and breakfast preparation."

It further stated, "You will also need to accompany the child to the bathroom occasionally," and included conditions such as "The child is young and timid, so preference is given to someone of a similar age and the same gender. Please change your profile picture to a personal photo before applying."

Netizens who shared the post reacted with comments like, "600,000 won per shift is not just exceptional but suspicious," "It’s strange that they are supposedly looking for a caregiver but only want someone to talk to," and "It’s scary that they only want a young female caregiver, and the request for a profile photo is also odd." Despite these concerns, it is reported that 24 people applied for the position.

Meanwhile, on the 11th, two days after Ms. B was confined in the pension, a friend of Mr. A reported to the police, expressing concern about potential criminal harm. It was then reported that Ms. B threatened Mr. A with a weapon and continued to confine and flee using a vehicle. Ms. B was caught by the police at 5:10 a.m. the same day in Cheongpyeong-myeon, Gapyeong. Mr. A was rescued without injuries.