Serial Sexual Assault Suspect in 19-Year-Old Cold Cases Caught... Tracked Down Through DNA Investigation

DNA Match Found During Search for Missing Person at Officetel
Two Sexual Assaults in 2007... Admits to Both Offenses

A suspect in a series of sexual assaults that had remained unsolved for 19 years has been apprehended through DNA analysis and indicted.

The Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office said on October 30 that it had indicted and detained a man in his 50s, identified as A, on charges of home-invasion rape and rape causing injury under the Sexual Violence Prevention Act.

According to the office, A was indicted while in custody on suspicion of breaking into a residence in Guro-gu, Seoul, in August 2007 and sexually assaulting a woman, and then sexually assaulting and injuring another woman in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, in October of the same year.

A breakthrough in the investigation came during an inquiry into the disappearance of a person from an officetel in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, in July 2026. To trace the missing person's whereabouts, police conducted DNA testing in every unit of the officetel. In the process, DNA collected from one unit was found to match that of a suspect in a sexual assault case from 19 years earlier.

Based on this finding, the Guro Police Station in Seoul launched an investigation and apprehended A on October 15 after obtaining an arrest warrant. While continuing its investigation with A in custody, police consolidated the case with a sexual assault in Wonmi-gu, Bucheon, and were notified that the same DNA had also been found in that case.

A reportedly admitted to both offenses during police questioning. On October 23, police transferred A to the prosecutors' office while he remained in custody.

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