A man in South Korea has confessed to murdering his girlfriend and burying her in cement on his balcony – 16 years after she was reported missing.

As BBC news reports, the man, who is in his 50s, told local police that he hit the woman with a blunt object during an argument in his apartment in the southern town of Geoje. He then placed her body in a suitcase, which he buried under bricks and cement on his balcony.

It remained there until last month, when a maintenance worker discovered it while drilling, local media reported.

The body – which had been partially preserved inside the suitcase – was identified as that of the missing woman through fingerprint analysis. An autopsy revealed that he died of blunt force trauma to the head.

The man was not living in the apartment when the body was discovered but was quickly found and arrested.

He told police he had been living with the woman for about 5 years in the studio apartment in Geoje, before an argument in October 2008 during which he hit her with a blunt object.

He then buried the suitcase in which her body had been placed, under bricks and cement on a small third floor balcony that was only accessible from one of the bedrooms.

Police say he continued to live in the apartment for another eight years before he was arrested on drug charges in 2016.

Since then, the owner of the apartment had left it empty, using it as a storage space.

The woman – who was in her 30s at the time – was not reported missing by her family until three years after her death, authorities said.

They had reportedly lost contact with their daughter and – when they came looking for her in Geoje – were told that she had broken up with the man and left town.

Only this year, when the owner of the building ordered some waterproofing work, the 16-year-old mystery was solved.

Police say they are continuing their inquiries and are expected to charge the man with murder.