According to police, Mr. A struck his girlfriend with a blunt object, resulting in her death. He then placed her body into a suitcase, which he buried under a layer of bricks and cement on his third-floor balcony, accessible only from one bedroom. The body remained hidden there for over a decade.

The grim discovery came last month when a maintenance worker, conducting waterproofing work on the apartment, uncovered the suitcase. Local media reported that the body had been partially preserved, thanks to the sealed suitcase. Authorities used fingerprint analysis to identify the remains as the missing woman. An autopsy confirmed that she had died from blunt force trauma to the head.

Mr. A had continued living in the apartment for eight years after the murder until he was arrested on unrelated drug charges in 2016. Since then, the landlord had left the apartment vacant, using it as storage. 

The woman, who was in her 30s at the time of her death, was not reported missing by her family until 2011—three years after the incident. Authorities revealed that her family had lost contact with her and were told by locals in Geoje that she had broken up with Mr. A and left the area.

The 16-year mystery was finally solved when building maintenance led to the suitcase's discovery. Police have arrested Mr. A and are continuing their investigation, with charges of murder expected to follow.