SEOUL A South Korean man who has admitted killing eight women since 2006 may have murdered others including his wife and mother-in-law, officials said on Sunday.

Prosecutors said that Kang Ho-Sun, 38, was now accused of killing his spouse and her mother in a 2005 arson attack on their home, and would face extra charges of arson and parricide.

The blaze broke out a week after Kang bought several life insurance policies for his wife. Kang escaped the deadly fire at his home and received 480 million won ($318,000) from insurers.

Kang claims the fire was accidental.

Officials from the prosecutors' office in the city of Suweon, just south of Seoul, also said they had secured DNA samples of two other women from a gardening hoe at Kang's house, indicating there could be further charges.

Police first arrested Kang last month on suspicion of kidnapping and murdering a female university student. He later admitted killing eight women. Five of the women went missing in a two-month period between December 2006 and January 2007.

Kang met his victims in karaoke bars or picked them up from isolated bus stops, according to police investigators, who have described him as a typical psychopath who feels no remorse.—AFP