Gyeongsan Police Station in North Gyeongsang Province last week referred the case involving 31-year-old Zheng Changsheng to prosecutors and disclosed the suspected motive for the killing.

Zheng was referred while detained on suspicion of "murder, damaging, abandoning and concealing the body of a Chinese graduate student in Korea, and obstructing police duties through deception," according to Korea JoongAng Daily.

The identity disclosure notice published by the Gyeongbuk Provincial Police Agency on Sept. 1, 2026 carries the name and photograph of Zheng Changsheng, a Chinese university lecturer detained on suspicion of killing and dismembering a Chinese graduate student who took his classes.

He is accused of killing the 25-year-old Chinese student at his apartment in Hayang-dong, Gyeongsan, in the early hours of Aug. 20. He allegedly dismembered her body and disposed of the remains at several locations, including Gyeongju and Gunpo in Gyeonggi Province, police said.

Police later determined that Zheng and the victim had been in a romantic relationship. During an argument, the student allegedly threatened to report the relationship to the university. Police believe Zheng feared the disclosure could cost him his job and killed her as a result.

A polygraph test did not indicate that Zheng was lying when he explained his alleged motive, police said, as reported by The Korea Herald.

Zheng is a lecturer at a university in Gyeongsan, where the victim was a Chinese international student pursuing a graduate degree. She had previously attended a class taught by Zheng, through which the two became acquainted.

Following the killing, he allegedly filed a false missing-person report to mislead investigators. He is also accused of disguising himself as a woman, traveling to Dongdaegu Station and switching off the victim's phone to prevent police from tracking her movements.

He was arrested on Aug. 25.

Police said they built the case by piecing together on-site CCTV footage, parts of the victim's body recovered from Zheng's residence, tools allegedly used to dismember her, remains found at disposal sites and Zheng;s statements, Chosunbiz reported.

Of the five locations where he is believed to have disposed of the body, police recovered remains, including bones, from three sites in Gyeongju, Sangju and Daegu.

Police also plan to investigate allegations that Zheng, while working as a university lecturer, threatened other female students by telling them they needed to maintain a good relationship with him in order to graduate.