SAITAMA -- A suspect in the murder of the South Korean operator of a barbecue restaurant in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, was arrested after being found at a pachinko parlor in Nagano, police said.

The 40-year-old suspect, Seiji Iwai, was arrested on suspicion of abandoning the corpse of murdered restaurant operator Kim Yun-hui, 69.

Iwai reportedly took on the job of renovating Kim's barbecue restaurant in May for about 3 million yen. However, he was quoted as telling police that trouble arose between him and Kim over a delay in payment.

Investigators accuse Iwai of hiding Kim's corpse under the bed in her room on the second floor of the building in which the restaurant was located on about June 16. He has reportedly admitted to the allegations against him and started to admit involvement in the murder.

Kim's body was discovered on June 18. Stab wounds that were believed to have been made with a small knife were found in Kim's abdomen and back.

Police said that several hundred thousand yen was missing from a safe in Kim's home. They are investigating the disappearance of the money over the possibility that the crime was a murder-robbery.

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