Family of Serial Killer’s Victim Reeling from Shock

“Our last hope is to find her body and let her rest in peace,” said Kim Seong-yeol, 56, the brother-in-law of a Korean-Chinese woman who was killed by serial killer Kang Ho-soon.

Speaking from Yanji in China’s Jilin Province yesterday to The Dong-A Ilbo, he said with his eyes swelling up with tears, “If I cannot find (her body), I will bring a handful of dust from where her body is buried.”

The victim had a mother, two married sisters, a brother and a daughter in the 10th grade as relatives. As soon as her mother and brother receive their passports and visas, Kim will visit Korea this week at the earliest with them.

Since the victim’s two sisters are working in other countries, they could not come to Korea after learning of their sister’s death.

“My sister-in-law had a hard life as the family breadwinner after she graduated from high school because she lost her father when she was young. As her relative, I must find her body at all costs,” Kim said.

He plans to ask the Korean government to pay extra attention to her and the Chinese Embassy in Seoul to help retrieve the victim’s corpse.

The victim paid more than 20,000 yuan (2,890 U.S. dollars) to come to Korea in June 2006. She decided to come to support her mother, brother and daughter in China, and earn enough for her daughter’s college tuition in advance.

The victim had a tough life at her mother’s home after having left her husband seven years earlier due to marital discord. She then left for Korea to earn money.

Without complaint, she sent every month 3,000 yuan (433.37 dollars) to her family in Yanji. She called her family every day.

She suddenly stopped calling in December 2006, however. Since Korean Chinese who went to Korea to make money occasionally are known to disappear and suddenly show up again, her family thought she was alive despite waiting for two years.

At the end of last month, the family heard the news that she was dead. The victim’s mother fainted after hearing her daughter was murdered by a serial killer.

The mother is said to be eating only rice soup, going to the hospital sometimes, and shunning contact with others.

She reportedly is unable to sleep thinking about her late daughter who died to support her family on foreign soil, and feels angry over her murderer.

The victim’s daughter is a student at a prestigious high school, but does not yet know that her mother died at the hands of a killer. The victim’s sole hope was to see her daughter enter a prestigious university. For this reason, her family is trying to hide the news before she gets into college.

Kim made excuses to her that her family will visit Korea to see her mother and seek jobs.

Her family’s hearts sink, however, when the victim’s daughter says, “It’s weird that she didn’t call us for so long,” hinting at perhaps knowing of her mother’s death.

The victim’s mother said she hurts when thinking of the shock her granddaughter might feel when she learns of her mother’s death.