Cops: Subway push suspect incriminates himself

A suspect being questioned about shoving another man into the path of an oncoming Manhattan subway train implicated himself in the Queens resident's death during questioning Tuesday night by detectives, a police spokesman said.

The unidentified suspect made incriminating statements to detectives hours after he was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon at 50th Street and Seventh Avenue, police said.

As of 10 Tuesday night the suspect had not been charged. He is expected to participate in a lineup for witnesses Wednesday, police said.

The suspect was apprehended about a block from the 49th Street subway station where Ki-Suck Han, 58, of Elmhurst, was pushed to his death at about 12:30 p.m. Monday in front of a southbound train before horrified onlookers.

A police official would not say what the suspect told detectives.

Another subway passenger's video of the moments before the push shows a man, identified by police as Han, in a heated argument with another man.

In the video, the unidentified man is shown yelling profanities and telling Han to leave him alone. Moments later, witnesses told police, the man pushed the unemployed Elmhurst resident from the platform. Other subway riders reported hearing the assailant talking to himself before pushing Han, said NYPD commissioner Ray Kelly.

Han survived the fall to the well of the tracks, but could not climb back on to the platform before he was struck by the train as it pulled into the station. Han was in Manhattan on Monday to renew his Korean passport, according to police.

A photo published in Sing Tao, a Chinese language newspaper, taken by one of its reporters, showed Han face down on the tracks. The suspect is shown gathering up his coat and leaving the platform.

Detectives were told by people in the area near the station that the man seen on the video resembled someone who often helped street vendors, according to the police official. Police had obtained video images of the man, who the official said lives in Jamaica, Queens, from security cameras in the area.

Earlier Tuesday, Kelly said that police were offering a $12,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in Han's death.

Asked by reporters if other subway riders could have done more to help Han get out of danger, Kelly said he wasn't in a position to answer.

"I wasn't there so I can't comment on that," Kelly said.

Tuesday night at Han's Elmhurst home, family members were consoled by a minister. Han's wife and his daughter climbed into an SUV with the minister and drove them away for the night.

"The family would speak but it's difficult right now," said the minister, Won Tae Cho.

With Igor Kossov