"Feared Their Relationship Would Be Exposed"... Man in His 30s Transferred to Prosecution After Killing Girlfriend and Disposing of Her Body in Five Locations

Murder of Chinese Woman in Her 20s at Gyeongsan Residence
Parts of the Victim’s Remains Recovered in Gyeongju, Sangju, and Daegu
Attempted to Mislead Investigation by Filing a False Missing Person Report
Police Also Investigate Additional Crimes During Suspect’s Time as University Lecturer

A Chinese man in his 30s has been handed over to the prosecution while in custody after murdering his girlfriend, a Chinese woman in her 20s, in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, and then dismembering her body and abandoning the remains across multiple locations throughout the country.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency
Photo by Kwon Byunggun

On September 4, the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency and Gyeongsan Police Station announced that they had transferred 31-year-old Chinese national Zheng Changsheng to the prosecution on charges of murder, destruction, abandonment, and concealment of a corpse, as well as obstruction of official duties by deceit.

Zheng is accused of strangling his girlfriend, also a Chinese national in her 20s, to death at his residence in Gyeongsan, North Gyeongsang Province, around 6 am on August 20.

According to the police investigation, in an attempt to conceal his crime, Zheng dismembered the victim's body and disposed of the remains in trash dumps, wooded areas, and riversides across five locations: Gyeongsan, Gyeongju, Sangju, Daegu, and Gunpo in Gyeonggi Province. Some body parts were also hidden at his residence.

Zheng is also accused of filing a false report with the police to create confusion in the investigation, making it appear as if the victim had simply gone missing.

To investigate the case, police analyzed footage from 16 sources, including CCTV in the area and vehicle dashcams, and conducted searches at 14 locations, including Zheng's residence, securing a total of 214 items as evidence.

They also analyzed 84 items, including potential murder weapons and remains, and carried out searches at the five sites where body parts had been abandoned.

During this process, the police recovered some of the victim's body and bones from Zheng's residence as well as from locations in Gyeongju, Sangju, and Daegu.

Police stated that they substantiated the charges based on CCTV footage, murder weapons, recovered remains, and Zheng's testimony.

In his police statement, Zheng claimed that the crime was committed after a quarrel, when the victim threatened to inform school authorities about their relationship, causing him to fear losing his job.

Police explained that while it is difficult to definitively determine Zheng's motive due to the victim's death, investigation results confirmed that the two were in a romantic relationship. A psychopathy assessment (PCL-R) conducted on Zheng indicated that he did not meet the criteria for a diagnosis.

Police are providing psychological counseling, appointing a public defender, and supporting the victim's family with body storage and cremation costs, as well as living expenses in Korea, in cooperation with related agencies.

The police plan to continue searching the disposal sites to recover the rest of the victim's remains.

In addition, considering the deadline for custody investigation, Zheng has been handed over to the prosecution first. Authorities also plan to continue investigating additional crimes suspected to have occurred while Zheng was working as a university lecturer.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.