A TENANT was seconds from discovering the body of her murdered flatmate when an accused double killer rushed to stop her, a court heard.

Eun Gyo Moon told the Old Bailey she was cleaning her apartment when she tried to force open a cupboard.

But landlord Kyu Soo Kim, 32, pounced on the student, telling her it could not be opened, the jury was told.

Miss Moon said she had arranged to take over the rental of the property in November, 2001, only days before Kim allegedly murdered In Hea Song, 22.

He is said to have stuffed her body into the cupboard by the front door of the flat in Poplar, east London.

Miss Moon said: "I had to go back to Korea and I came back to London on December 9. I had left my belongings with Kyu Soo and he had agreed to look after them for me at the flat.

"I gave him £900 or £1,000. I spoke to In Hea on the phone while I was in Korea. She seemed to be in a very good mood. When I got back to Augusta Street, Kyu Soo answered the door, but In Hea wasn't there. He said he hadn't seen her for about a week." She said she wanted to put shoes in a cupboard, but her landlord stopped her, saying the door was jammed.

Miss Moon said several days later Kim became angry after being phoned by relatives trying to trace another student, 21-year-old Hyo Jung Jin.

Kim is alleged to have murdered Miss Jin a month earlier while she was staying at one of his London properties.

Prosecutor Mr Jonathan Laidlaw QC has told the court Kim tortured the two students, extracting their pin numbers, and suffocated them before emptying their bank accounts.

Miss Jin was murdered days after arriving at Kim's guesthouse in Holborn, London, in October 2001, it is alleged.

She was forced into a large suitcase, which was then dumped 212 miles away in a country lane at Askham Richard, near York.

Surrey University student Miss Song disappeared a month later and her body was found on March 15 last year in a sealed cupboard at the Augusta Street address, the court heard.

Kim denies two charges of murder.

The trial continues.

Updated: 09:47 Saturday, March 15, 2003