A South Korean AIDS patient who went missing six years ago was found dead in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, local officials said Friday.

The 37-year-old woman died from AIDS-related pneumonia on Tuesday, according to local authorities.

Korea regularly monitors AIDS patients, but the woman fell out of the checkup system after she disappeared, her whereabouts unknown.

The woman used to live in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, where she found she was infected with the HIV virus in 1998.

The Andong City Public Health Center began monitoring the woman right after the diagnosis and contacted her about four times a year, checking her health status and medical examination results until 2008, after which she could not be reached.

Since then, health officials have been unable to track down the woman through her resident registration number, which was canceled due to the prolonged disappearance.

The woman was in a coffee shop in Gapyeong at the time of her death. The Gapyeong-gun officials are looking into whether she was employed there, but the shop owner said she was not due to her failing health.

By Suh Ye-seul
(sys@heraldcorp.com)