A man in his 40s once identified as the prime suspect in a series of elementary school student disappearances in Gangjin has been detained again after being found in possession of a knife while under probation supervision.
The man, identified as A, was detained on the 16th on charges of violating the law on the attachment of electronic monitoring devices, or electronic anklets, and is being held at the Seoul East Detention Center, according to legal sources on the 19th. Under the law, when a court orders the attachment of a monitoring device, it may also impose conditions such as a ban on possessing knives.
A was named as a suspect in the disappearances of two elementary school students in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, in 2000 and 2001. He was never prosecuted in the case because of a lack of direct evidence.
In 2002, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing his wife's younger brother with a knife. After serving the full term and being released, he received another prison sentence in 2018 for raping a woman with an intellectual disability. He completed that eight-year term and was released last month.
A had been ordered not to possess knives, but the probation office recently received a tip that he was carrying one. Officers searched the temporary residence in Seoul's Dongdaemun District where he had been staying since his release and, concluding that the allegation was substantiated, requested an arrest warrant from the Seoul Northern District Prosecution Office.
A had appeared in women's clothing on an episode of SBS's investigative program "Unanswered Questions" that aired on the 17th, focusing on the Gangjin disappearances. According to the broadcast, A confessed in 2010, while being questioned by prosecutors in a separate child sex crime case, that he had killed and disposed of the two missing children. He was not arrested as a suspect after the on-site verification turned up no significant evidence and he retracted the confession.
After the broadcast, parents in Dongdaemun District and nearby areas where A is believed to be staying voiced anxiety on online parenting forums and social media. "There are so many school-age children in Dongdaemun District — what are we supposed to do?" one user wrote. Another said it was chilling to think such an offender was walking the streets.