Woman's body found in freezer at South Korea cafe, owner arrested

The body of a woman in her 60s was found in an industrial freezer at a cafe in Paju, South Korea, alongside counterfeit gift vouchers worth hundreds of billions of won. Police arrested the cafe operator, a man in his 30s, on suspicion of involvement in her death. The woman arrived at the cafe on September 3 to discuss a voucher deal, and security cameras recorded both entering the freezer, but only the man emerged.

The body of a woman in her 60s was discovered in an industrial freezer at a cafe in Paju, South Korea, alongside a large quantity of counterfeit gift vouchers worth hundreds of billions of won (hundreds of millions of dollars). Police arrested the cafe operator, a man in his 30s, on suspicion of involvement in her death. According to a report in the South Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, the woman arrived at the cafe on September 3 to discuss a deal related to gift vouchers with the operator. Security cameras recorded the two entering the freezer together, but only the man was seen leaving afterward. Police are investigating whether the woman was killed at the scene or was locked inside and left to die. The suspect was arrested in Seoul that same day, and a court approved his detention due to concerns he might flee or destroy evidence. Investigators suspect the counterfeit vouchers are linked to the incident, and that the operator lured the woman to the cafe for a personal voucher transaction, which escalated after she allegedly uncovered a fraud. The business has been closed since September 3, and the operator instructed his employees not to come to work. Police are also examining his financial ties and the possibility that others were involved in the voucher counterfeiting.