7 Korean true crime cases that will keep you up at night

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Behind the glitz and glamour seen in pop culture, Korea's grimmest and most harrowing crime stories, some more well-known than others, continue to haunt society today. The Korea JoongAng Daily takes a deep dive into some of these stories, sharing a glimpse into the darker side of society as well as the most up-to-date known facts. – Ed.
 

Mug shots of five boys who went missing around 9 a.m. on March 26, 1991. Top row, from left: Kim Jong-sik (9), Kim Young-gyu (11), Woo Cheol-won (13), Jo Ho-yeon (12) and Park Chan-in (10). Above are age-progressed images of what they were anticipated to look like in 1995. [JOONGANG ILBO]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #1: What happened to the 'Frog Boys'?


In 1991, five elementary school boys vanished near Mount Waryong in Daegu on a historic election day, sparking a nationwide search. The students, who had been searching for salamander eggs, later became known as the "Frog Boys." Their remains were discovered in 2002, but the questions surrounding their deaths leave it as one the most famous unsolved cases to this day.
 

Left: Yongso Falls in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi; Right: Relationship between two murderers Lee Eun-hae and Cho Hyeon-soo and a victim Yoon Sang-yeop [YUN YOUNG]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #2: The Gapyeong Valley drowning — Did Lee Eun-hae gaslight her husband to death?  


In the summer of 2019, 39-year-old Yoon Sang-yeop drowned during a trip to Yongso Falls in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi. Did his wife, Lee Eun-hae, and her extramarital partner, Cho Hyun-soo, prod him to jump to a watery death? What unfolded was a sordid tale of a secretive affair, gaslighting allegations and life insurance fraud.  
 

Lee Eun-seok, who murdered his parents, is escorted by police in this undated screen capture. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #3: The Lee Eun-seok parricide case — Was he actually a scapegoat?  


In 2000, Lee Eun-seok murdered and dismembered his parents in Gwacheon, Gyeonngi. What initially appeared to be a cold-blooded and inexplicable crime was cast in a different light when details emerged about his alleged motive — years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents. The case prompted not only psychological analyses of his actions, but also wider conversations about family violence, trauma and the long-lasting effects of abuse in Korean society.
 

Lee Young-hak stares at a camera while entering the Seoul Northern District Court for the first trial on his murder of a 14-year-old girl on Nov. 17, 2017. [NEWS1]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #4: The Molar Daddy' case — Depravity, police incompetence and false facades


In 2017, Lee Young-hak — already a public figure known as "Molar Daddy" for his rare dental disorder — drugged, sexually assaulted and murdered his daughter's 14-year-old friend with his daughter's help. The crime, masked by Lee's image as a devoted father, exposed deep layers of sexual depravity, abuse, police negligence and manipulation.  
  

Cho Jung-pil, who was murdered at a Burger King restaurant in Itaewon, central Seoul, on April 3, 1997, smiles next to his mother Lee Bok-su, left, in a 1994 photograph that she provided to the media after his death. [LEE BOK-SU]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #5: The Itaewon homicide case — How the Burger King killer went unpunished for 19 years


The stabbing of college student Cho Jung‑pil in a Burger King restroom in Itaewon in 1997 remains one of the most infamous murder cases to date in Korea. The case became mired in a "he said, he said" dispute between the two main suspects, Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee and went unresolved for years due to conflicting testimonies and prosecutorial missteps. Thus, the man who stabbed 22-year-old Cho to death eluded justice for nearly two decades as prosecutors initially charged the wrong person with his murder.
 

Ha Ji-hye, a law student at Ewha Womans University who was killed in March 2002, smiles in an undated photo. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #6: The contract murder of a Ewha Womans University law student — Who was behind her stalking?
 
Ha Ji‑hye, a 22‑year‑old law student at Ewha Womans University, was found murdered in March 2002. Investigators traced the murder back to an extensive stalking campaign orchestrated by her cousin's mother‑in‑law, Yoon Gil‑ja. Over the years, Yoon hired over 25 people to surveil Ha for two years, believing, without evidence, that Ha was having an affair with her son‑in‑law. Yoon contracted her nephew, Yoon Nam‑shin, and an accomplice, who shot Ha with an air rifle.  
 

A photo of nine-year-old Lee Hyung-ho that taken shortly before his kidnapping in 1991. [LEE WOO-SIL]

 
KOREAN CRIME FILES #7: The murder of Lee Hyung-ho — The kidnapping of a young boy at Apgujeong's Hyundai Apartment  
In 1991, 9-year-old Lee Hyung-ho was kidnapped from a playground in Hyundai Apartment complex in Apgujeong-dong, a wealthy neighborhood in Seoul, triggering one of Korea's largest police investigations. Over 60 chilling ransom calls led his parents on wild chases across the city, but the boy's body was found 44 days later.  
 

Related Article

• Frog Boys case: Five students vanished in 1991, found dead years later — still no answers 

• Murder by gaslighting? Drowning in 2019 a tale of abuse, infidelity and homicide

• He was on death row. Then they learned about his parents.

• 2017 'Molar Daddy' murder exposes sexual depravity, police incompetence and false facades

• A case of 'he said, he said' — how the killer in the infamous Itaewon murder went unpunished for 19 years

• A contract to kill: How a law student was accused of an affair, stalked and murdered

• Ransom calls, a runaround and a cold case: The kidnapping and murder of a 9-year-old boy