Court hearing held on arrest warrant for suspected mastermind in kidnapping-murder

The Seoul Central District Court held a hearing Monday to decide whether to issue an arrest warrant for another suspected mastermind behind a recent kidnapping and murder of a woman in southern Seoul.

The court is expected to decide as early as Monday night whether to grant a warrant to arrest a 49-year-old woman, surnamed Hwang, on charges of requesting the murder of the victim, together with the suspect’s already arrested husband, surnamed Yoo.

The couple allegedly gave the green light to the key murder suspect Lee Kyeong-woo’s proposal to kill the victim and paid him a total of 70 million won (US$53,070) in return.

The Suseo Police Station has earlier referred Lee and two other murder accomplices — Hwang Dae-han and Yeon Ji-ho — to the prosecution for further investigation and indictment on charges of killing the 48-year-old woman from Seoul’s Gangnam district on March 29.

They allegedly killed her the following day and buried her body on a hill in the central city of Daejeon. The three also discussed stealing cryptocurrency from the victim, according to police.

Lee and Hwang have known each other since 2021 through their cryptocurrency investment, with the murdered victim also involved.

After the digital currency fell sharply in February 2021, Lee, the victim and other investors believed Hwang manipulated the token’s price. They extorted 190 million won worth of cryptocurrency coins from her.

In connection with the investment losses, the couple, reportedly possessing considerable wealth, had been in legal disputes with the victim.

Police also arrested Yoo upon the court’s issuance of an arrest warrant on Saturday for allegedly requesting Lee commit the murder.