A 58-year-old man has been arrested for the murder of his girlfriend 16 years ago, after her remains were discovered during construction work.

Geoje Police and the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said Monday they had arrested the man on suspicion of killing his live-in girlfriend in 2008. The man is accused of fatally striking the victim, who was in her 30s at the time, with a blunt object during an argument on Oct. 10 that year, at their residence in Geoje, South Gyeongsang Province.

The suspect then put the body inside a suitcase and hid it on the outdoor balcony next to the rooftop of the building. He then covered the luggage with bricks and poured cement over it to evade discovery.

The crime was uncovered 16 years later when the landlord of the building found the suitcase containing the body while conducting demolition work to prevent water leaks.

The investigation revealed that the victim had minimal contact with her family, which meant a missing person's report was not filed until three years after her death in 2011. At the time, police found no evidence of foul play and the offender had said in his statement that the couple had separated.

Following the discovery of the body, the police re-investigated the case and were able to identify the victim as the woman reported missing in 2011. Through the autopsy, they concluded the woman had died from a blunt force head injury. Police then named the man as a suspect and arrested him at his residence in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province on murder charges.

During questioning, the suspect admitted to killing his girlfriend. The man also faces additional charges for drug use, as police discovered the man had taken methamphetamine at the time of his arrest.

The suspect continued to live in the same residence unit where the body was hidden for eight years after the murder, until he moved out in 2016, according to police investigation. The authorities said that no other tenants occupied the unit after the suspect’s departure and the landlord used it as a storage area.

Police will finalize the investigation and send the case to prosecution in the coming days.