Police Name Korean National As Suspect In Death Of His Korean Wife, In-Laws

[Medic Mike]

THE police are preparing parricide and double homicide charges against the Korean national who was named suspect in the killing his wife and parents-in-law inside their restaurant in Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City last Thursday night.

Kim Seewong, 36, was taken into police custody after investigators found him in the restaurant's attic with a wound on his left wrist. He reeked of alcohol.

Senior Supt. Armando Radoc, acting chief of the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, said Kim will be transferred to their detention cell once he gets out of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.

Dr. Manuel Gines, chief of the emergency room department of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC), told Sun.Star Cebu that Kim’s condition is stable.

“When I checked him, there were no other wounds or bruises aside from the cut on his wrist,” said Gines, who attended to the Korean national at the emergency room.

Log

Investigators tagged Kim as the suspect based on the account of the Han Ga Wi Restaurant’s guard who was on duty at the time of the incident.

Claudio Eborda Jr., 37, wrote on the guard’s logbook that he heard a commotion inside the restaurant, where the Korean family also lived, past 2 a.m. that day. He said Kim's wife was screaming and crying.

Radoc told reporters yesterday that they did not find any other signs that an outsider was involved.

He said charges against the suspect will be filed on Monday.

The police are trying to secure a copy of Kim’s marriage certificate. If they could not get one, a case for multiple homicide will be filed against Kim, said Radoc.

The bodies of Youngmi An and her parents Ho An and Kim Soonok have been submitted for autopsy. Youngmi reportedly had an older brother in Cebu.

The police are still in the dark as to what triggered the violence in the household.

But an employee of the restaurant said it was not the first time the family quarreled.

Kim and his wife would often quarrel while he's drunk, said Jover Flores, the 22-year-old manager of the restaurant.

Quarrels

But Flores said he never saw the couple's argument lead to physical violence.

“Wa mi magdahum mabuhat na ni sir (We never thought he could do it),” he told Sun.Star Cebu. He described Kim as a quiet man.
He said Youngmi's parents would often interfere in the couple's quarrel.

The restaurant had been operating for a year and employed seven people.

Honorary Consul to Korea Augustus Go expressed sympathy to the victims' family.

“It's very tragic that this happened. Our heart goes out to the family,” he said in a brief phone interview.

Investigation

The Cebu Korean Association expressed sympathy to the families of the Korean nationals involved in the incident.

But Bong Hwan “Charlie” Cho, association president, declined to comment further. He said they are helping the police investigate the incident,
“We will wait for the official report,” he said in a text message to the media.

A security guard found the bodies of Youngmi and her parents around 5 p.m. last Thursday. They were stabbed.

Things around the restaurant were in disarray and some of the furniture were destroyed.

Knives
Police investigators recovered two kitchen knives, one
of which was broken.

Radoc said Kim did not resist when the police brought him down from the attic.

Eborda said that after the last guest left past midnight, Kim padlocked the front glass door, inserted a piece of wood through the door handles and tied these with rope.

At 2:23 a.m., Eborda said he heard screams and cries from Youngmi before the restaurant fell silent.

“Di gyud nako kaayo madungog unsay nahitabo sa sulod. Baga kaayog ug haligi ning restaurant (I couldn't hear clearly what's happening inside, what with the restaurant's thick walls),” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

Eborda said he did not call the police, thinking the couple was only having an ordinary quarrel.

Suicide attempt

Radoc, in a separate interview, said he doesn't think Eborda can be held liable for failing to report the incident to the police.

Korean consuls and police attaches Kim Dae Hee and Park Yongjeung visited the suspect at the hospital yesterday morning.

Radoc said police officers are watching after the suspect at the hospital. Aside from ensuring he would not escape, Radoc said, the suspect needs to be guarded as he might commit suicide.

He said Kim may have tried to commit suicide by slashing his wrist.

Radoc added that the incident should not be a cause for worry among investors and the general public.

“This is an isolated case. This is domestic violence and it's not a threat to public security,” he said.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) 7 will coordinate with the Lapu-Lapu City Police Office in investigating the case.

The CIDG 7 signed last week a memorandum of agreement with the Cebu Korean Association and vowed to cooperate with each other in investigating issues involving Korean nationals in Cebu.

“We assured them (Cebu Korean Association) that we will help. We will let them know actions we’ve undertaken,” said CIDG 7 deputy chief Fermin Armendarez in a text message.

Cho, in an earlier interview, said there are at least 50,000 Koreans living, studying and doing business in Cebu. He said Koreans have become a big part of Cebu that they also want to help maintain peace and order here.

 

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/local-news/2014/05/24/police-name-korean-national-suspect-death-his-korean-wife-laws-344469

 

[the_whipster]

this is a pattern of the Korean murders. Quite a few of them seem to be Korean-on-Korean, although I cannot recall any kano-on-kano murders - although there may have been some, there are plenty of kano-on-kano barroom brawls after all. Also with the much higher number of Asian expats bringing their own families to live in the Philippines, the whole domestic murder scenario takes a different dimension. So when 'the wife done it', then that doesn't mean that the murderer is a Filipina, but a Korean.

 

it seems the Korean underworld/mobsters have got themselves intricated in the Philippines too, like a lot of the European and other farang underworld has got itself involved in Pattaya, and Samui. Look at the way Angeles has gone Korean.