A GUESTHOUSE landlord accused of the murders of two young Korean women yesterday admitted killing one of his victims.

Kyu Soo Kim, 32, stuffed one of the students into a suitcase and dumped it outside York, leaving the other to rot in a cupboard, a jury has been told.

Mr Kim pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of student In Hea Song, 22, who he is alleged to have suffocated with a sock.

But Jonathan Laidlaw, prosecuting, said: "There are some cases where the prosecution will accept a guilty plea when a defendant is charged with murder - this is not one of them."

Judge Jeremy Roberts QC told jurors that the defendant was still charged with two counts of murder.

The court heard allegations that he tortured the two students, extracting their bank pin numbers before emptying their accounts.

Mr Kim suffocated Hyo Jung Jin, 21, and Miss Song by pushing socks into their mouths and winding tape around their faces, the court was told.

The victims, who had stayed at guesthouses he rented for tourists, were both found naked.

Mr Laidlaw has told the jury the murders could have been motivated by greed or sex.

Miss Jin, a student who had been studying in France and came to England on a sightseeing trip, was murdered just days after arriving at Mr Kim's guesthouse, in Eagle Street, 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, in 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 a guesthouse, in east London.

Mr Kim gave the impression he was well off but he was deep in debt at the time of the murders, the court heard.

Mr Laidlaw said he owed thousands on defaulted bank accounts, credit cards and loans from friends.

Mr Kim fled to Canada, paying for the flight with his second victim's cash.

He was arrested when he returned to Britain on January 7 last year.

He denies two charges of murder.

The trial continues.