Police additionally confirmed that suspect Kim So-young, 20, in the "Seoul Gangbuk motel serial killings," committed similar offenses against three men.
An official at the Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) said at a regular press briefing on the 16th that three more victims who drank a drugged beverage handed to them by Kim So-young were identified, and Kim was additionally booked on charges of aggravated injury.
It was found that from Oct. last year to Jan. this year, three victims met Kim So-young in places including Seocho District and Gangbuk District and drank beverages containing a tranquilizer ingredient.
A National Forensic Service analysis detected in the body of one victim the same ingredient previously found to have been put by Kim So-young into another victim's drink.
For one of the remaining two, police are awaiting a National Forensic Service reply, and for the other, the same ingredient was not detected, which police presume is due to the time elapsed since the offense.
Police explained that the reason they did not disclose Kim So-young's identity information early in the investigation was that there was not enough evidence to prove intent to kill.
An official at the National Office of Investigation (NOI) said, "The suspect was denying the charges, and with only ten days of detention for investigation, it was difficult to judge that all requirements related to the Serious Crime Investigation Disclosure Act were met."
Regarding identity disclosure, police decided to actively assess the legal requirements going forward and to strengthen field staff training by enhancing related casebooks at the front line.
From mid-Dec. last year to on the 9th of last month, Kim So-young was indicted and detained on the 10th on charges of handing beverages containing benzodiazepine drugs to three men in their 20s, causing them to lose consciousness or die. Kim So-young's first trial is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. on the 9th of next month at the Seoul Northern District Court.