Personal Details and Photos of 'Cold Storage Murder' Suspect Spread Online

Personal details, including the real name and photos of a man in his 30s who trapped and killed a woman in her 60s inside a cafe's cold storage in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, are spreading across social media services (SNS).

According to police and other sources on September 9, posts containing the real name and photo of the suspect in his 30s, identified as Mr. A, who was arrested on charges of murdering an abducted person, as well as the name of the cafe he operated, have been posted successively on SNS and online communities.

Some posts even included explanations that the name of the cafe operated by Mr. A was chosen in a way that allows people to guess his age.

As the unusual crime method of Mr. A trapping the victim in a cold storage unit to cause her death has become known, public interest is focusing on whether the police will officially disclose his personal information.

Under current laws, the disclosure of a suspect's personal information is decided by considering requirements such as: ▲ whether the crime method is cruel and resulted in grave damage; ▲ whether there is sufficient evidence to believe that the suspect committed the crime; and ▲ whether it is necessary for the public interest, such as guaranteeing the public's right to know, preventing the suspect from reoffending, and preventing crime.

Mr. A is accused of luring a woman in her 60s, identified as Ms. B, whom he had never met before, into his cafe, trapping her in the cold storage unit, and setting the storage temperature to minus 25 degrees Celsius (-13°F), causing her to die of hypothermia.

It has also been confirmed that Mr. A visited the scene multiple times while Ms. B was trapped in the cold storage.

Believing that Mr. A lured and then killed Ms. B, the police applied the charge of murdering an abducted person, which carries a heavier statutory penalty than general murder charges.

The charge of murdering an abducted person applies when an abducted victim is killed, and is punishable by the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment for not less than 7 years.

Considering Mr. A's crime method and the resulting harm, there is room for it to meet the requirements for disclosing personal information, but the police maintain that it is not yet the stage to review whether to disclose it.

A police official stated, "We are still in the stage of looking into the overall details of the case, including the motive for the crime," adding, "There are many unverified parts and issues that require additional investigation, so we are not currently discussing public disclosure."

The police are reexamining the overall case, including analyzing the credibility of the crime motive stated by Mr. A.

The police plan to forward Mr. A to the prosecution as early as this week upon concluding the additional investigation.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.