KEY POINTS:
Police working on the homicide investigation into the death of Korean tourist Jae Hyeon Kim have arrested a third man today and charged him in connection with the inquiry.
The man appeared in the Westport District Court and was remanded on bail to July 24.
His name and the nature of the charge have been suppressed.
Two men have already this week been jointly charged with murdering the 25-year-old economics student, even though his body has not been found.
Shannon Brent Flewellen, a 28-year-old fisherman, appeared in Westport District Court this morning and entered no plea to murdering Mr Kim at Charleston on the West Coast between September 29 and October 22, 2003.
He was remanded in custody to reappear on July 24.
Flewellen's co-accused, a 31-year-old unemployed former Westport man, did not appear. Police declined to say why.
Inquiry head Detective Inspector John Winter said he would not rule out further arrests as police sought others in an effort to locate the body of Mr Kim.
Mr Winter said police believed Mr Kim was killed at Charleston, 27km southwest of Westport, and they knew how he died.
Police reopened the investigation into Mr Kim's disappearance in May as part of their routine practice to revisit unsolved missing persons cases.
He was last seen in Nelson in September 2003 and reported missing in May 2004.
Following new information, police transferred their investigation from Nelson to the West Coast, conducting a five-day search of bush near Charleston, at Four Mile Bridge.
On June 12 police received an anonymous letter about the case, followed by a second letter from a different source a few days later.
Although the anonymous letter writers had not yet come forward, Mr Winter said he was pleased with the level of co-operation the inquiry team was now receiving in the wake of the recent arrests.
He encouraged others in possession of relevant information to come forward.
- NZPA
