Police Believe They Have Finally Identified Korea’s Most Infamous and Elusive Serial Killer

Known as Korea’s “Zodiac Killer”, the murderer still remains a mystery 30 years later.

“The Hwaseong serial murders” occurred in the rural city of Hwaseong, Korea between 1986 and 1991.

In total, ten women between the ages of fourteen to seventy-one were sexually assaulted and found strangled to death with their clothes.

The victims were found dumped in alleyways or paddy fields and were thought to have been attacked at dawn or on their way home at night.

Although evidence found at each site pinpointed to the same killer, the murderer has never been exposed to this day.

The evidence compiled from forensics, plus the testimonies provided by various witnesses, pointed to a man who was in his 20s when he committed the murders, around 170 cm tall with thin build and blood type O-.

Despite a massive manhunt, police were unable to match the forensic data to any of the suspects who were interviewed.

The case inspired the 2003 film “Memories of Murder” which was directed by Bong Joon-ho.

To this day, the killer remains elusive.

On Thursday, for the first time in decades, police announced that they had identified a suspect who they believe could be the notorious serial killer.

The suspect is currently in prison for raping and murdering his sister-in-law in 1994.

After his wife walked out on him, the suspect served his sister-in-law a drink with sleeping pills. He raped her while she was unconscious before killing her and attempting to hide the body.

Senior police officer Ban Ki-soo announced that the suspect’s DNA matches those extracted from three cases linked to “The Hwaseong serial murders.”

Hence, these findings could very well solve a mystery that has shaken Korea for over three decades.

The suspect has denied these allegations.

Source: South China Morning Post and The Chosun Ilbo