The police are seeking the extradition of a man from Germany who confessed to murdering his wife in Seoul.

The 48-year-old German is currently in police custody in Berlin after he confessed to murdering his Korean-German wife at about 4 a.m. on Dec. 22.

The man left Korea soon after the murder and confessed to the German police upon arrival in Berlin.

The German police have refused to hand over the suspect, citing principles of personal jurisdiction, but the Seoul agency plans to pursue the matter in collaboration with the Ministry of Justice and the International Criminal Police Organization.

The Korean police were alerted to the murder by the German police through Germany’s embassy in Seoul.

Following the report, the officials from the Seocho Police Station said that they found the body of the 49-year old woman, who immigrated to Germany with her mother and sister about 40 years ago, identified by her surname Cho in a closet at the couple’s residence on Sunday morning. The woman had been strangled with a cord, the police said.

Although the German man has remained silent regarding his motive for murdering his wife of some 30 years, Korean investigators suspect that the crime was motivated by financial reasons.

According to the police, a statement written in 2009 that Cho had rights over 90 percent of the couple’s wealth and that the two will not give each other psychological or physical stress was found in Cho’s bag.

The couple has been selling accessories purchased in Asian nations including Korea and Japan through the internet since 2007. The two arrived in Korea on Dec. They have since stayed at the property where Cho’s body was found.

By Choi He-suk (cheesuk@heraldcorp.com)