Boyfriend impersonated girlfriend Sunny Kim for two weeks after murdering her

A man pretended to be his girlfriend for more than a fortnight after he murdered her when she tried to break up with him.

The 24-year-old, who can only be referred to under South Korean law as Mr Lee, confessed to killing Sunny Kim, 26, on 18 May, two weeks after she disappeared.

It emerged that after Sunny went missing, Lee had been replying to texts from her phone claiming to be her, apparently using her previous correspondence to mimic how she communicated.

Victim: 26-year-old Sunny Kim, from South Korea and educated in the U.S., was allegedly murdered by her 24-year-old boyfriend, known only as Mr Lee

The 26-year-old went missing on 2 May (Picture: Facebook)

‘The way that he text[ed] me was how would my sister would text," Sunny"s sister, who asked to be kept anonymous, told BuzzFeed.

‘We think he may have gone through her phone to see how she usually contacts us.

‘It was really shocking to see how someone can really hide what they did in that way."

It also emerged that on the day Sunny was killed she had accepted a new job. Later that day Lee, pretending to be Kim, declined the offer, telling the employer ‘she was going back to the US to study".

Lee had a history of being violent towards Sunny, her sister said (Picture: Facebook)

Heartbroken: The moving ceremony was reportedly attended by hundreds of Kim's friends and classmates

Lee tued himself into Busan police. He entered with his wrists cut and bleeding and told officers ‘I killed my girlfriend and buried the body. I also tried to kill myself," reports BuzzFeed.

Two days later, Sunny was found in a suitcase buried under cement in the hills near her home.

Lee had a history of being violent towards Sunny, her sister said. Lee is due to appear in court at later date.

Happier times: The couple had met in Kim's native South Korea, after she retued from the United States after graduation to take a job as a professor

Friends of Kim"s have reported that there were many signs the couple"s relationship was abusive.

Kim had allegedly reported her boyfriend to police for hitting her, but no charges were made.

Kim"s body was discovered packed into a suitcase, and buried under cement in hills in Jecheon, a city in North Chungcheong province, near to where she was living. 

Flowers had reportedly been planted over her makeshift grave.  

Although bo in South Korea, Sunny Kim studied in the United States from the age of 14, and graduated in economics from the State University of New York, Albany.

After graduating, she moved home to take a job as a professor in Busan, where she met the boyfriend.

The day she was killed she had accepted a new job and told her family that she would be seeing them soon. 

Friends and family: Sunny Kim was an active member of the Kappa Phi Lambda-Upsilon in New York while at university, and friends have said that she will be sorely missed

 

Lee looked at Sunny"s previous correspondence to mimic how she texted(Picture: Facebook)

But Mr Lee later emailed the employer, it has been alleged, posing as Kim and saying that she would not be taking the job as she was retuing to the U.S. to continue her studies.

Kim"s sister said that this was a move intended to ‘cover his tracks".

The sister, who is currently studying in the U.S. told Buzzfeed: ‘The was that he text[ed] me was how my sister would text."

‘We think he may have gone through her phone to see how she usually contacts us. It was really shocking to see how someone can really hide what they did in that way."  

Grave: Police released photographs of the site where Kim's body was found buried in a suitcase undeeath a metre of cement, in hills near to where she lived 

Abusive: Sunny Kim allegedly reported her boyfriend to the police, with photographs of her bruised face, but no charges were made