Students in South Korea are instantly deleting their accounts on tutor-matching apps after the murder of a 20 years old woman in Korea's Busan. The suspect Jung Yoo-jung, a 23-year-old had used one of these apps to identify her victim.
A female student residing in Busan said to the Korean Herald, “I feel dizzy and disgusted at the thought of Jung having seen my information on the app. I could have been a victim.” She added that she has deleted the app.
The Report further quotes another female college student who posted on Everytime, "I received a message through the app from a middle-aged man before. The man said he didn't need a tutor but that he would give me money if I met him and talked to him. I closed my account because I was scared. "
For registration on these apps, Photos, Proof of identification, a university student ID card, etc are the key details to be submitted. The phone numbers of the tutors are also disclosed to members. On the other hand, if someone wants to sign up to the app as a student or a parent, they are only required to enter a mobile phone number and verify it.
The accused, Jung is suspected of having approached a university student and freelance tutor looking to tutor a middle school student by pretending to be the mother of a student. On May 26, Jung disguised herself as a middle school student and visited the victim's home under the guise of taking a class. She is then thought to have allegedly murdered the victim, according to police. Jung was arrested on May 27.
The Busan Metropolitan Police Agency disclosed Jung's name, age and photo on Thursday, taking the seriousness and brutality of her crime into consideration. The agency also conducted a psychopathy test, known as the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised, on Jung. Her score exceeded the average, said police. In Korea, when a person scores more than 25 out of 40 on the test, the person is considered a psychopath. The average person scores about 15.
Police said Jung's phone records show she had spent the previous three months scowling the internet for tips on how to hide a dead body.
Police also believe she used crime novels and television programs as research. Jung's library record shows she borrowed a number of crime stories in the months before the crime.
Jung found her victim using an app for private tutors to connect with parents. She posed as a mother of a school child wanting her daughter to learn English. They both agreed that the daughter could come to the tutor's house for a consultation two days later.
Jung then bought a school uniform online to pose as the fake daughter. Once she entered the victim's home, she stabbed her with a knife.
Police said: 'Jung is short, and with the uniform on, the victim probably mistook her for a middle-school student.'
Having planned out the crime, police said Jung visited a nearby supermarket where she bought rolls of large bin bags and bottles of bleach.
Jung then cut up and dismembered her victim and placed some of her body parts in a suitcase. She then got in a taxi and dumped the suitcase in the Nakdong River in a secluded wooded area.
Police said Jung had tried to 'make it look like the victim had disappeared.'
'Jung kept the victim's mobile phone, ID card and wallet, attempting to commit a perfect crime.'
However, the taxi driver became suspicious and alerted authorities.
Police retrieved the case to find blood-stained clothes. The remaining body parts were found in Jung's house.
'Jung was a loner and a recluse who has been unemployed since graduating from high school five years ago,' police said.
Jung was escorted out of the detention centre on Friday morning for prosecution. She told reporters she feels 'really sorry for the victim's family,' The Korea Times reported.
She added said, 'I think I was out of my mind,' when asked by reporters why she tried to cover up the murder.
