▲ Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Koh Bum-seok answers questions from Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Hae-sik during a parliamentary audit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency by the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on October 15.
It has been confirmed that a man in his 50s of Chinese nationality, who was found abandoned as a mummified body in a residential area in Guro-gu, Seoul, had been hospitalized in an intensive care unit for a chronic illness before his death.
The deceased had received treatment for about two weeks and was discharged without being able to pay his hospital bills.
He was later found dead not in the room of the villa where he lived, but in an adjacent room.
It was confirmed that his cohabitant had already been deported prior to the time of death.
Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Koh Bum-seok addressed related questions during a regular press briefing today (November 2), stating, "We have confirmed his history of receiving inpatient treatment in the intensive care unit in August."
However, although an autopsy has been performed, the exact cause of death has not yet been determined.
The deceased was an undocumented immigrant who entered the country in 2011, with his period of stay expiring in January 2022.
His cohabitant was also an undocumented immigrant, and it was confirmed that the cohabitant left the country through forced deportation while the deceased was hospitalized in the intensive care unit from August 15 to August 31.
Police believe the cohabitant is not connected to the circumstances of the death, as the cohabitant was not in the country at the time of death.
Police are investigating how the deceased returned to his residence after being discharged and the circumstances under which his body was found in an adjacent vacant room rather than his usual room.
When asked if there were circumstances suggesting the man died in isolation rather than from homicide, Commissioner Koh replied, "I will speak once the final cause of death comes out," adding, "It is inappropriate to predict and state the results at this time."
The body was found wrapped in plastic and newspapers at a garbage disposal area in a residential neighborhood in Guro-dong, Guro-gu, on October 27.
Police urgently arrested a man in his 60s on charges of abandoning a body and an 80-year-old multi-family housing landlord on charges of abetting the abandonment of a body.
Police requested arrest warrants for the two suspects on charges of corpse abandonment and abetting corpse abandonment, respectively, but the court dismissed both on October 29, citing no risk of flight or destruction of evidence.
During police investigations, the two individuals admitted to the fact that they abandoned the body.
However, the 80-year-old landlord claimed he did not know it was a body, and the man in his 60s also told reporters just before his detention warrant hearing, "I thought it was a doll."
Meanwhile, the residence where the deceased lived is registered as a single household on the building ledger, but it is known to be actually partitioned into 19 rooms with only one shared bathroom outside the building.
Police plan to verify the exact time and circumstances of death based on the final autopsy results from the National Forensic Service.
(Photo: Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.