The news of that day has passed, but its meaning remains today. 'Today's That Day' reads the present through records of the past.
May 31, 2002. While the entire nation was caught up in the fervor of the Korea-Japan World Cup, a female university student in her 20s was found dead in Busan. Twenty-four years have passed since the incident, but the perpetrator has yet to face legal judgment. The prime suspect was once sentenced to life imprisonment but was ultimately acquitted by the Supreme Court, leaving the case as a representative long-term cold case.
"Bound Hand and Foot, Stabbed More Than 40 Times"… Body Surfaces in Busan Waters
That day, a woman's body was discovered inside a burlap sack along the coast of Myeongji-dong, Gangseo-gu, Busan. The victim was Ms. A (then 22), who worked at the 'Taeyang Teahouse' in Sasang-gu, Busan. She was an ordinary university student who worked at the teahouse to earn her college tuition.
The body was wrapped in multiple layers of black plastic and burlap, with hands, ankles, and knees bound with duct tape. Dozens of stab wounds left by a sharp weapon were found on her chest, arms, and thighs. The autopsy revealed no signs of sexual assault.
Ms. A had lost contact after leaving work around 10 p.m. on the 21st of the same month. Her family searched directly for several days but could not trace her whereabouts, and reported her missing to police nine days after the incident. However, she returned as a body the day after the report was filed.
Police focused on one man from the early stages of the investigation. On the 22nd, the day after the disappearance, a man wearing a red cap was captured on bank closed-circuit television (CCTV) withdrawing cash from Ms. A's bank account. After failing twice to enter the password at an ATM, he tried again to check the balance, then withdrew the entire 2.96 million won at the counter.
Several days later, another crime followed. Two women used Ms. A's identification card to change the password on her savings account and withdraw 5 million won. Police believed the same man was behind these women and launched a pursuit.
Prime Suspect Caught After 15 Years… Claims He "Just Picked Up the Bag and Took the Money"
The case remained unsolved for a long time. Decisive evidence was lacking, and the CCTV image quality was unclear. Then in 2015, with the implementation of the so-called 'Taewan's Law,' which abolished the statute of limitations for murder, the investigation resumed.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency's cold case unit continued the pursuit based on public wanted posters and tips from social media (SNS), and ultimately arrested the prime suspect, surnamed Yang, in 2017. It was 15 years after the incident.
Police were essentially convinced Yang was the perpetrator. Yang had a record of serving time for sexual offenses and robbery after the incident, and his mobile phone contained search records for terms such as 'abolition of murder statute of limitations.' Testimony was also secured that there were red stains presumed to be blood in the vehicle he used at the time.
However, Yang adamantly denied the murder charge. He claimed, "I happened to pick up Ms. A's bag near Sasang Station," and "I figured out the bank account password by combining her family's phone number and resident registration number written in her notebook." He continued, "After withdrawing money the first time without any problems, I had the women go withdraw the savings as well."
But prosecutors and police found his explanation difficult to accept logically. Ms. A's bank account password contained the number '6' twice, but the information Yang claimed to have combined did not include the number 6.
"Suspicious but Insufficient Evidence"… Supreme Court Overturns Life Sentence
In the first trial held with citizen participation, a majority of jurors found Yang guilty, and the court sentenced him to life imprisonment. The second trial maintained the same judgment.
What was cited as decisive grounds in that trial was the testimony of Yang's live-in partner. She testified, "I once moved a sack containing a soft, squishy object with Yang." Prosecutors judged this to be circumstantial evidence of transporting the victim's body.
However, the Supreme Court's judgment was different. The Supreme Court stated, "The more serious the crime, the more proof beyond reasonable doubt is required," and remanded the case to the Busan High Court.
In particular, it pointed out that "there was only a few hours' difference between the estimated time of the victim's death and the time of the cash withdrawal, and if the perpetrator had figured out the password himself, there is no explanation for why he would have entered it incorrectly twice at the ATM."
The remanded trial court also acquitted Yang, stating, "Although the crime is suspicious, there is no direct evidence or sufficient circumstantial evidence," and the Supreme Court finalized this in 2019.
Ultimately, the prime suspect was completely acquitted in legal terms. Under current law, even if new evidence emerges, it is difficult to punish him again. The case fell back into mystery, and even within the Busan Metropolitan Police Agency, there were laments that this case demonstrated the limits of long-term cold case investigations.
An investigator at the time said, "If punishment is difficult even with this much circumstantial evidence, solving old cold cases becomes virtually impossible," adding that it was "a ruling that left a wrong learning effect for criminals."
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