It was a chilling scene straight out of a South Korean drama as a 35-year-old man donned a cap and a face mask to stalk his ex-girlfriend. He later entered her apartment in Seoul where he allegedly brutally stabbed her to death. The suspect, Kim Byung-chan, apologized timidly as cameras followed him on Monday as he appeared before the public for the first time since being arrested for the crime

Swarms of reporters and photographers surrounded the tragic "Oppa" as he left Seoul Namdaemun Police Station to be taken to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office where he will be indicted on the stalking murder charges.

Kim kept apologising and saying "I'm sorry" as members of the press bombarded him with questions. He did not say anything more, choosing to ignore other requests for comments about the case. He refused to confirm if he had premeditated the killing.

According to the Yonhap News Agency, Kim is facing eight different charges from the Seoul Jungbu Police Station, including "revenge murder, stalking and threatening."

The suspect was arrested last week and after an investigation, it was found that he had been actively searching the internet for information about weapons and crime methods. According to the police briefing, Kim had started to turn more violent after the victim reported him to the police due to incessant stalking.

The suspect had reportedly been stalking his ex-girlfriend since their breakup over five months ago. He had previously broken into her former residence in Busan as well as into her car. He had been threatening her with a weapon even before they had separated back in June. Moving to Seoul was apparently not far enough, as Kim was able to find her and managed to finally complete his gruesome mission.

Police are under fire after it was revealed that the unnamed victim had been under police protection at the time of incident. She had complained about the threat back in early November, and had been trying to call for help via a device provided by the police when she was killed. Apparently, assistance was not provided fast enough due to a malfunction in the police device.

If found guilty for revenge murder, Kim faces ten years or more in prison.

Gavel
Gavel | representative image Photo: Pixabay
South Korea