Seoul police on the 19th disclosed the identity of Kim Sung-woo, 26, the suspect in the killing of his mother-in-law and the abduction of his wife in Seoul's Songpa district.
The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency convened a panel on identity disclosure that afternoon and released Kim's name, age and mug shot. Kim has been arrested on charges including murder of a parent-in-law (a lineal ascendant under Korean law) and aggravated unlawful confinement. The panel found that the gravity of the harm and the brutality of the method used were established and that the evidence supporting the charges was sufficient. It also concluded that disclosure served the public interest, including preventing repeat offenses and deterring crime. Kim's details were posted on the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency website at 6 p.m. and will remain there for 30 days.
Under the law on disclosing the identities of suspects in specified serious crimes, identifying information may be released when a suspect's criminal conduct has been sufficiently established in a case involving brutal methods and grave harm. Disclosure must serve the public's right to know as well as the public interest in preventing reoffending and deterring crime, and authorities must weigh factors including the wishes of the victims.
Kim is accused of going to his in-laws' home in Songpa at about 5:38 a.m. on the 11th of this month, stabbing his mother-in-law, a woman in her 50s, with a knife and then forcing his wife into a vehicle. The mother-in-law was found at the scene in cardiac arrest and died after being taken to a hospital.
Police are investigating the possibility that the crime was premeditated, citing evidence that Kim waited near the scene for about four hours while carrying a knife.
The bereaved family contends that Kim acted in retaliation for his wife's report of domestic violence and her lawsuit seeking to annul the marriage. Police are also examining whether the crime was retaliatory. They plan to refer the case to prosecutors on the morning of the 20th.