A 28-year-old man committed murder after spending his entire life savings on female streamers.

The suspect owes 55 million KRW (~47,218 USD) in cyber money that he spent giving gifts to female streamersfor 8 months. Desperate for money, he killed a woman who was walking in the streets while trying to rob her.

The incident occurred on August 30th at around 6:50 PM at a deserted farm road near the Jeju City flea market. The surveillance footage revealed the 39-year-old victim, Ms. Kim, was returning home after stopping by a convenience store after work. Ms. Kim appeared to be aware that she was being followed by someone and began walking quickly. When she was ambushed by the man, she fought back and resisted the man's attack with an umbrella she was holding.

However, she was stabbed by a weapon the man had wielded and collapsed in a nearby bean field while the man ran away. Ms. Kim was found the next day on August 31st by a villager.

Jeju Seobu Police department arrested the suspect, Mr. Kang, on August 31st at 10:48 PM. The man was arrested the day after the incident at a parking lot in Pyoseon-myeon, Seogwipo City.

The police found the weapon used during the crime in Mr. Kang's car. They also found the victim's credit card and phone case. Mr. Kang is currently under arrest on charges of robbery and murder, attempted concealment of the body, theft, and fraud. 


◇The suspect planned the perfect crime

The suspect confessed and stated that the reason he accidentally committed the crime was because of difficulties maintaining his livelihood.

However, the police noticed the suspect's strange behavior, which was too suspicious to be a simple robbery. He had already prepared the weapon and had visited the place of the incident multiple times as if he was planning his crime. According to the police investigation, it was revealed that the suspect actually stayed in the vicinity of the location and searched for a target for three days.

The suspect also returned to the scene of the crime five hours after the crime on August 31st at 12:17 AM to check if the victim was deceased. After confirming the victim's death, he tried to hide the body to commit the perfect crime. However, after moving the body about 5 meters, he gave up and ran away because it was more difficult than he thought. At that time, he took the victim's cellphone, 10,000 KRW from her wallet, and her credit card.

The suspect then dumped the victim's cell phone in the sea in front of Oedo-dong, Jeju, which is approximately 3 kilometers from the scene of the incident. He then stopped by a convenience store and two supermarkets to buy food worth 100,000 KRW with the card he had stolen.

The suspect confessed to the police that he returned to the scene of the crime to hide the body but it was too heavy. So eventually he returned without being able to move the body.

◇Known as a big gift giver online as he gave gifts worth millions of KRW (thousands of dollars) to female streamers

Also during the investigation, the police found that the suspect had been wasting money by sponsoring cyber money to a female internet streamer. For more than 10 hours a day since December of last year, he talked with several female streamers online and presented them with cyber money donations starting from 100,000 KRW (~85.75 USD) to 2 million KRW (~1,715 USD).

At the time of the crime, the suspect had borrowed 55 million KRW (~47,218 USD) for his delivery vehicle expenses and living expenses as well as sending cyber money to the streamers.

A police official stated, "The criminal may have been a penniless young man in reality but we suspect that he has been acting as a 'wealthy big gift/donation giver' in the virtual world."

The suspect even met with one of the female streamers in person.

It has been confirmed the suspect's credit card was suspended because he used his entire life savings on sending virtual money to streamers. The suspect had run away from his landlord two days before the crime and slept in his truck to find the target of his crime when his credit card was suspended and his rent payment was delayed.

The suspect confessed that he had worked as a deliveryman from April to July but had quit because he realized he didn't make much money. He committed the crime after being jobless and struggling to stay afloat.

However, the police assumed that the suspect had wasted all his money after being absorbed into female streamers and committed the crime because he needed money immediately for that reason not because he needed money for his own livelihood.


◇The victim's family requests the suspect's identity to be revealed to the public and request strict investigations.

This incident caused quite a stir when a message was posted on the bulletin board of the Presidential office at the Blue House. The message requested that the suspect's identity be disclosed to the public.

Also, the victim's father posted a petition stating, "My daughter worked part-time at a small convenience store for five hours a day and walked home 90 minutes daily on foot. She walked so she could save money on transportation."

The police concluded that the suspect did not commit the crime because he was struggling but wanted to earn money right away. They stated, "The suspect is in a state of mind seeking only money without any awareness or respect for life. It is highly likely that he would have committed additional crimes if he was not arrested. We believe that this crime was premeditated and is atrocious. We believe he did not commit the crime because of his livelihood but was planned. This will be subject to aggravated punishment because it constitutes a specific violent crime."