Korean True Crime

In February 2020, 16-month-old Jeong-in was adopted by a seemingly perfect, pious couple, only to arrive dead to an emergency department 271 days later. The system meant to protect children failed to protect Jeong-in three separate times as child abuse reports were filed and dismissed.Find our merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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In 1978, South Korea's most famous actress, Choi Eun-hee, and her ex-husband, legendary director Shin Sang-ok, were kidnapped on the orders of a movie-obsessed Kim Jong-il. For eight years, they were held captive and forced to revitalize North Korea's film industry. While keeping up the appearances of cooperating, the couple secretly recorded Kim's confession to the kidnapping and planned their escape.Find our merch her...

Lee Eun-seok sat in his apartment uncertain if he would get away with what he had done. He asked himself. “Am I a servant of Satan, or am I a piece of trash that should just end his own life"? When the public discovered he had murdered his parents, they decidedly labeled him a monster, but after his diaries were found the answer became uncertain. Can a crime so heinous and unforgiveable, be understandable?

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In 2007, a quiet coffee shop became the scene of a horrific murder early one morning. The police had no evidence and a witness so traumatized she couldn't remember anything. The only lead came from a discarded sweater containing a bottle of eye drops in the pocket. The hunt for the culprit revealed that they were chasing a man who the justice system had already met, and set free.

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In 1997, two American teenagers, Arthur Patterson and Edward Lee, followed a stranger into a Burger King bathroom. Minutes later they emerged covered in blood. When the police arrested them, they each pointed a finger at the other. Faced with two wildly different stories, the justice system had to determine which one was the killer. It would take nearly twenty years due to finally uncover the truth.

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In 2008, a fatal stabbing at a Seoul bus terminal should have been an open-and-shut case, as the victim identified her killer with her dying breath. Instead, investigators were led on a wild chase through the city's subway lines before their suspect vanished completely. For seventeen years, Hwang Ju-yeon has remained Korea's most-wanted fugitive.

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When actress Jang Ja-yeon was found dead in 2009, police called it a simple suicide, but a secret document she left behind told a different story of systemic abuse. This document was not a suicide note, but a list of the powerful men she claimed had forced her into sexual servitude. Her story was almost lost as the papers were burned, but then an anonymous source sent them to a major news station. The letters named leaders in media...

On social media, she presented a life of luxury travel and designer bags. In reality, she was a woman drowning in debt, consumed by likes and follows. When that anger finally consumed her, it resulted in a 41 stab wounds and the purchase of a chainsaw.

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They spent 21 years in prison for a murder they didn’t commit. Jang Dong-ik and Choi In-cheol insisted on their innocence, but believing them meant admitting the police got it wrong. With the real killer never caught and no leads left behind, will the Nakdong River Murder remain forever unsolved?

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Nine victims in ten months. Jeong Doo-young's only motivation? Greed. He hunted the wealthy on quiet rainy Thursdays, leaving blood-soaked homes across Korea's southern coast.Find our merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

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Graves filled with the remains of entire families began turning up across the remote northern mountains. In one village, rumors spread of a cave on Macha Mountain said to be rich with gold but locals soon called it the “Cave of Death,” because those who entered were never seen again. The cave was just one of many hiding places used by the doomsday cult known as the Pure White Church. Beneath promises of salvation, they buried the t...

On New Year’s Day, 11-year-old Lee Siwoo wrote down his resolutions for 2023. He wanted to pass his exams, spend time with his family, and disappear quickly. A month later, paramedics found him unresponsive on the floor of his home. When they cut open his pajama shirt to begin CPR, they saw the bruises covering his emaciated body. While his mother mourned at his funeral, his father and stepmother sat in a police station, claiming S...

In 2007, Kim Myeong-ho, a mathematics professor, waited in the stairwell of Judge Park Hong-woo's apartment building. As the judge pressed the elevator button, Kim Myeong-ho raised a crossbow and shot the high court judge. What led to this? A mistake on the mathematics portion of the national college scholastic test. The trial left Korea divided over who the true villain was.

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In 1992, Yun Geum-i was brutally murdered in her apartment in the Dongducheon camp town. The suspect, Kenneth Markle, a U.S. Army medic, was shielded by the U.S.-South Korea Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) which led to a surge of anti-American protests across South Korea. Korea demanded accountability and an end to an era of inequality. Yun Geum-i'...

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In 2004, the Raincoat Killer, Yoo Youngchul, stopped. The police were left with only shoeprints and a fuzzy CCTV screenshot. Unbeknownst to the investigators, Yoo Youngchul hadn’t stopped killing, he’d chosen a new target to hate: women. His crimes continued to escalate as Yoo Youngchul began dismembering his victims and engaging in cannibalism. With the m...

Find our new merch here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com⁠In 2000, a man who would come to be known as the Raincoat Killer was released from prison following his 14th conviction, with a history of theft, extortion, and raping a minor. The 30-year-old Yoo Youngchul set his sights on Seoul’s wealthy, targeting homes near churches in Gangnam, where he bludgeoned his victims with a modified sledgehammer. Practicing his b...

Find our new merch here: ⁠⁠https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com/⁠⁠In 2005, a man who would come to be known as the Bloodlust Serial Killer was released from prison for the 5th time for crimes of robbery and rape. The 23-year-old would set his sights on two young women, murdering them, and taking his twisted perversions to heinous levels. When he was finally caught, he showed no remorse telling the judge, "I was going to keep...

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On February 10, 2025, seven-year-old Kim Haneul left her after-school arts program at Seonyu Elementary School in Daejeon, South Korea, heading to her next activity. A responsible first-grader, she managed her busy schedule with the guidance of trusted adults. But that day, one teacher shattered that trust, luring Haneul into a darkened audio-visual room. Within a...

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In the finale of our three-part series exploring Jamie Penich’s murder, a hotel-room confession sparks the first American-Korean extradition. Agents Mansfield, DiVittis, and Lee are confident they’ve nailed the killer, expecting judges to agree, but the suspect recants their confession. Accusations of coercion, ...