A corpse was found in the water tank of an apartment in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province, Monday, following a report of a foul smell coming from the tap water.
Police confirmed the identity of the deceased as 38-year-old Chinese surnamed Wong, who had worked on the crew of a ship in nearby Pohang, a coastal city in the same province about 120 kilometers from Gumi.
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Wong’s padded coat was found next to the water tank, as well as a note that claimed he had not received 5.4 million won ($4,600) in wages.
Records showed Wong had arrived in Gumi on April 20. He had no in-town acquaintances.
A number of residents testified to having seen the man loitering in underpants scavenging through trash cans.
The police said that murder was unlikely as Wong’s body showed no signs of violence and as the water tank is structured in a way that would make it difficult to dump a body in.
An autopsy will be performed on Wednesday to determine the cause of death, and hopefully inform the investigation into how Wong’s body came to be in the tank.
Wong’s body was found at around 1:30 p.m. on Monday by a member of the apartment management team inspecting the water tank after residents raised complaints.
The police said that Wong is likely to have been dead for more than 10 days based on the degree of decomposition.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)