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The identity of 24-year-old Jung Jae-hwan, who is accused of brutally murdering his friend of the same age by stabbing him dozens of times with a weapon in his apartment, has been made public.
The Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency released Jung's name, age, and photograph on its website today (July 16).
The information will be available to the public for 30 days starting today.
Jung is accused of drinking with his friend at his apartment in Hayang-eup, Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk, on the 4th, when he bit the victim's face, stabbed him dozens of times with a weapon, and attempted to mutilate the body.
It was revealed that just before the murder, the victim called a friend to ask for help. The call recording reportedly contains the voice of Jung laughing and asking the pleading victim, "Am I cute?"
Even after killing the victim, Jung visited a convenience store in a naked state and walked out with a drink.
During the police investigation, Jung reportedly stated that he could not remember the crime because he was intoxicated.
Previously, the victim's bereaved family claimed that immediately after the murder, Jung left the scene covered in blood and naked, wandering the streets for an hour, but police failed to subdue him immediately even when they encountered him in a patrol car.
Because the police lost track of Jung, he returned to the crime scene and was eventually subdued by friends who discovered the scene.
The bereaved family urged an investigation into the police's response, stating, "The police arrived late and only secured Jung at around 5:20 a.m."
The police countered, "Because the suspect was naked and covered in blood, we judged him to be involved in the incident and ordered him to stop, but he fled."
The police explained that they arrived at the scene at 4:46 a.m. and made the arrest at 4:57 a.m., adding, "We followed the bloodstains, identified the apartment as the crime scene, and searched from the first floor."
Reported by Kim Minjeong | Video by Jung Yong-hee | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News