A former police officer has been arrested in Jeju on charges of murdering his wife in her 50s.

The Seogwipo Police Station in Jeju announced that they apprehended the suspect, identified as Mr. A—a former police officer and the victim's husband—at a lodging establishment in Gyeonggi Province at around 12:30 a.m. today (the 25th), on charges of murdering a woman in her 50s.

The victim was found dead with fatal injuries at her home in Seogwipo, Jeju, at around 7:00 p.m. yesterday, and her husband, Mr. A, is accused of murdering her with a weapon.

Immediately after discovering the victim's body, police launched an investigation by tracking Mr. A's whereabouts and reviewing nearby CCTV footage.

According to police investigations, Mr. A, who currently resides in Seoul, had been reported missing to the Jungnang Police Station in Seoul by another family member on the 22nd.

The reporter told police that Mr. A had disappeared after leaving a note indicating that he wanted to die, and asked law enforcement to locate him.

Police requested cooperation from police stations in the northern Gyeonggi region where Mr. A frequently traveled, and on the 24th, also requested search cooperation from the police station in Seogwipo, where his wife—with whom he was going through a divorce—lived.

A police official stated, "Immediately after the search cooperation request came in at around 8:00 a.m. on the 24th, officers from the local police box visited the woman's home, rang the doorbell, and sounded the police car siren, but there was no response from inside." The official added, "Later that afternoon, officers visited the house again and noticed a broken window, leading them to search the interior, where the deceased woman was found."

Investigations revealed that Mr. A served as a police officer in Jeju for about six years before retiring, and moved his residence to Seoul last year, living separately from his wife.

Mr. A is reportedly not denying the crime. Police believe he committed the act out of resentment stemming from their ongoing divorce proceedings, and plan to escort him back to Jeju to investigate the precise motive.

Criticism has emerged suggesting that had police taken prompt action, such as conducting an earlier coordinated search while considering the possibility that the wife undergoing divorce proceedings could become a target of a crime, the tragedy might have been prevented.

Reported by Kim Taewon | Video by Hong Jin-young | Graphics by Yang Hye-min | Produced by SBS Digital News