Suspect in 26-Year-Old Elementary Student Disappearance Case Indicted for Possessing Weapon While on Probation

A man in his 40s who was previously identified as a key suspect in the serial disappearances of elementary school students in Gangjin 26 years ago, but went unpunished at the time, has been put on trial for possessing a weapon while on probation for a separate case.

According to the legal community today (Nov. 2), the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office indicted A (48) without detention on October 29 on charges of violating the Act on Electronic Devices Attached to Probationary Offenders (Electronic Ankle Monitor Act).

A was previously sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering his brother-in-law with a weapon during divorce proceedings in 2002 after the brother-in-law opposed their reconciliation.

After serving 15 years and being released, A was again sentenced to prison for sexually assaulting a woman in her 40s with a Level 3 intellectual disability in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, in 2018. He completed an 8-year sentence and was released in September.

For that sexual assault case, A was initially sentenced to 10 years in prison in the first trial along with an order to attach an electronic tracking device (ankle monitor), and his sentence was finalized at 8 years in prison in the second trial.

Under the Act on Electronic Devices Attached to Probationary Offenders, when a court issues an attachment order, it can also mandate compliance matters such as a ban on possessing weapons.

The court prohibited A from possessing or storing weapons and required him to provide advance notice if he possessed electronic information storage media such as a mobile phone.

However, while living in a temporary residence in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, after his release, A kept a weapon and possessed a mobile phone without reporting it in advance.

In response, the Seoul Probation Office requested an arrest warrant from the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office in mid-October, and the court issued the warrant.

Subsequently, on October 23, the probation office transferred A to the Seoul Northern District Prosecutors' Office with a recommendation for indictment.

A is currently being held at the Seoul Eastern Detention Center.

A was previously pointed out as a suspect in the successive disappearances of two elementary school students in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, in 2000 and 2001.

Police investigated A, who was in his 20s at the time, as a prime suspect in the mid-2000s, but the cases remained unsolved as they failed to find direct evidence linking A to the disappearances and violent crimes.

At the time, it was revealed that A had left behind notes that seemed to hint at the crimes and that he had lived in Gangjin during the periods when the two children disappeared, but investigators failed to secure definitive evidence.

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.