WELLINGTON - NEW Zealand police investigating the choking and beheading of a South Korean tourist five years ago have found a body, officers said Thursday.

Jae Hyeon Kim was 25 when he disappeared while hitchhiking on the isolated west coast of New Zealand's South Island.

Detective Inspector John Winter told reporters the body had been in a grave in scrub near the small settlement of Charleston on the scenic west coast, an area popular with tourists.

He said the body would be taken to the South Island city of Christchurch for positive identification.

Mr Winter refused to reveal how detectives were able to locate the body after such a long time, but the development came after one of three men arrested in connection with the murder admitted the charge during a court appearance this week.

Prosecutors alleged Kim was beheaded with a spade after being throttled in October 2003.

A 31-year-old man, whose name has been suppressed by the court, on Tuesday admitted the killing. He is due to be sentenced in December.

Mr Shannon Flewellen, a 29-year-old fisherman from Nelson on the South Island, has denied murder and is due to face trial.

A third man is due to appear in court in November in connection with the tourist's death. -- AFP