[Deeva Jessica/K-Crime] The Only Death Sentence in South Korea in Years

In December 2021, in Incheon, a woman in her 50s known as a “cosmetics sales queen,” Ms. Myung-ja, suddenly vanished without a trace. Soon after, a series of suspicious withdrawals began appearing on her bank card. While tracing Ms. Myung-ja’s last known movements, police identified a middle-aged man named Kwon Jae-chan as a key suspect. However, CCTV footage from a bank ATM showed a man with a completely different build—an accomplice identified only as Mr. Park—withdrawing the money, pushing the case into confusion. During the investigation, police uncovered Kwon Jae-chan’s past: he had previously served 15 years in prison for a 2003 pawnshop murder case. Even more chilling was the fact that the method used in the current case closely resembled the crime he had committed years earlier. Kwon eventually attempted to flee but was later arrested. After his capture, he began shifting the blame, claiming, “Mr. Park was the one who killed her.” Shortly after Ms. Myung-ja’s body was discovered, investigators began to sense that Kwon Jae-chan might be hiding another horrifying secret, prompting the police to completely redirect the course of their investigation.00:00 Michuhul-gu Serial Robbery Case34:01 Incheon Gajwa-dong Two-Person Serial Kidnapping Case