Exclusive: 'Shut up,' 'you b----': 911 recordings capture suspect's tirade as wife secretly called for help

With her mother dead and her husband holding a weapon, the abducted woman had few words left. She kept saying she was sorry. He unleashed a torrent of abuse. Provoking him further was not an option.

The 112 emergency call recordings made in the immediate aftermath of the attack capture that harrowing scene in full. Kim Seong-u, 26, faces charges of killing his mother-in-law and abducting his wife in Songpa-gu, Seoul.

The recordings, obtained Monday through the office of Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Lee Sang-sik, document three separate calls the victim — identified only as A — made in secret using her smartphone while her husband was unaware.

Kim had been lurking near his wife's family home in the early hours of Oct. 11, arriving around 5:35 a.m. He had circled the area on 18 separate occasions over the preceding month. He had a weapon in his car. The couple were in the middle of a marriage nullification lawsuit. When he spotted his wife that morning, he called out her name and gave chase.

Her mother had come outside to meet her daughter after learning she was being threatened. She stepped in front of Kim's blade and was killed.

Kim then forced his wife into his car. Terrified but quick-thinking, she managed to dial 112 without him noticing.

The first call was logged at 5:40 a.m. Dispatchers recorded sounds of cursing, a man and woman arguing, and a car alarm — a snapshot of the abduction in real time. The system flagged the caller as a person under protective watch.

Police immediately deployed not only local officers but also wide-area patrol units. "The conversation made clear it was an emergency situation," a police official said. "Nearly 1,000 officers were mobilized that day."

At 5:42 a.m., A placed a second call. Dispatchers logged what they heard: cursing, a man shouting and a woman speaking, a male voice swearing, the words "I was going to hit you at home," sounds of a man and woman arguing, the words "What did I tell you before you called the police?" and more sounds of quarreling.

One minute later, the final call came in. A said, "I'm sorry." Kim shouted, "Shut up," then demanded, "Tell me everything from the beginning," and continued hurling abuse. He then realized she had been secretly calling police and seized her phone.

Kim drove to Yangyang-gun in Gangwon Province. After a roughly five-hour pursuit, police found A on a mountain in Gangwon Province. About two hours later, at around 12:35 p.m., Kim was arrested on a mountain in Yangyang-gun.

Police concluded the attack was premeditated and retaliatory. Songpa Police Station transferred Kim to the prosecution on Tuesday on charges including violations of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes — covering retaliatory murder and unlawful confinement — as well as aggravated assault. Investigators plan to pursue additional allegations, including whether a private detective agency was involved in the crime.