1 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:14,680 Speaker 1: It's March twenty sixth, nineteen ninety one, and South Korea 2 00:00:14,840 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: is gripped by election fever. Local elections for district, city 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: and county councilors are being held for the first time 4 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:26,239 Speaker 1: in thirty years. A national holiday has been declared, and 5 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:30,360 Speaker 1: many people, including military personnel and school children, have been 6 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:34,920 Speaker 1: given the day off. Pupils from the Syongsou Elementary School 7 00:00:35,120 --> 00:00:39,320 Speaker 1: on the outskirts of Daegu are no exception. Among them. 8 00:00:39,560 --> 00:00:43,200 Speaker 1: It's Kim Hyon dos eleven year old son Yong Jieu. 9 00:00:44,240 --> 00:00:47,559 Speaker 1: For the purpose of clarity, South Korean names begin with 10 00:00:47,640 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: the family name followed by the given name. That morning, 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: he On Dou watches Young Jiu wave goodbye before disappearing 12 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: into the small maze of interconnecting concrete lined alleyways behind 13 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 1: their house to meet up with his friends Wu Chiolwan, 14 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:11,280 Speaker 1: Joho Yon Park Chanin, Kim Yong hikh and Kim Tai Ryong. 15 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:16,440 Speaker 1: The boys, aged nine to thirteen, are all neighbours in 16 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:20,560 Speaker 1: an area known as Dlso, a modest working class neighborhood 17 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:24,800 Speaker 1: on the western edge of Daegu city sprawl. They often 18 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,480 Speaker 1: play together around their houses in the nearby rice paddies 19 00:01:28,880 --> 00:01:32,360 Speaker 1: or on the thickly wooded slopes of Woyong Mountain just 20 00:01:32,400 --> 00:01:36,120 Speaker 1: to the north. On that morning of elections. With no 21 00:01:36,240 --> 00:01:38,959 Speaker 1: classes to keep them in school, the boys have been 22 00:01:38,959 --> 00:01:43,119 Speaker 1: given free reign to enjoy the spring day. Just after 23 00:01:43,200 --> 00:01:45,759 Speaker 1: eight a m. A young man gets annoyed with them 24 00:01:45,920 --> 00:01:48,960 Speaker 1: playing outside his apartment and tells them to go and 25 00:01:49,000 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: play somewhere else. A short time later, one of the 26 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:56,880 Speaker 1: boys returns home, as nine year old Kim te Ryong 27 00:01:57,120 --> 00:02:00,480 Speaker 1: explains to his parents, he wanted to keep playing, but 28 00:02:00,560 --> 00:02:03,720 Speaker 1: the others decided to head off to Woyong Mountain and 29 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:07,000 Speaker 1: he struggled to keep up with them. Having also been 30 00:02:07,040 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: worried about going too far from home, he decided to 31 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:14,959 Speaker 1: cut his losses and come back. Middle school student MoU 32 00:02:15,040 --> 00:02:17,960 Speaker 1: Yon is riding his bike past the entrance to the 33 00:02:17,960 --> 00:02:21,560 Speaker 1: mountain trailhead when he sees his younger brother walking with 34 00:02:21,639 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: the four other boys. He calls out to him and 35 00:02:25,360 --> 00:02:29,680 Speaker 1: asks where he's going. Oh Yon replies that they're heading 36 00:02:29,760 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 1: up to the mountain to the Salamander Pond, a water 37 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:37,160 Speaker 1: hole where salamanders are known to congregate to look for eggs. 38 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,119 Speaker 1: MoU Yon watches for a moment as the boys head 39 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:45,600 Speaker 1: up the trail, then turns around and cycles off. It 40 00:02:45,680 --> 00:02:49,079 Speaker 1: has just gone nine when a woman named Kim's son Nam, 41 00:02:49,280 --> 00:02:52,200 Speaker 1: who lives at the foot of Woyong Mountain, heads out 42 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,160 Speaker 1: of her home to cast a vote in the elections. 43 00:02:55,919 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: The sun is shining, the spring air fresh and cool, 44 00:02:59,480 --> 00:03:02,400 Speaker 1: with a thick carpet of last year's fallen leaves on 45 00:03:02,440 --> 00:03:05,520 Speaker 1: the ground. When she too sees the boys as they 46 00:03:05,560 --> 00:03:09,120 Speaker 1: head up the mountain. As they pass it by, they 47 00:03:09,160 --> 00:03:11,720 Speaker 1: wander aloud if they can get there and back in 48 00:03:11,800 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 1: two hours. That short, innocuous question will echo through her 49 00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: mind for many years to come. You're listening to Unexplained, 50 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: and I'm Richard McLean Smith. It has just gone eleven 51 00:03:33,200 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 1: thirty when another pupil from Xiongsou Elementary School named Ham 52 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:40,720 Speaker 1: climbs alone to a grave site located on the middle 53 00:03:40,760 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: slopes of Wyong Mountain. Just then he hears a series 54 00:03:45,000 --> 00:03:49,160 Speaker 1: of unusual sounds, sharp and urgent, coming from the top 55 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: of the mountain in roughly ten second intervals. Then he 56 00:03:53,040 --> 00:03:58,640 Speaker 1: hears another sound. This one is unquestionable, a marrow melting scream, 57 00:03:59,000 --> 00:04:03,640 Speaker 1: followed swiftly by another. The intensity of it seeps under 58 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:08,560 Speaker 1: his skin. This is followed by an unnerving, eerie silence. 59 00:04:10,120 --> 00:04:12,520 Speaker 1: By the end of the afternoon, the young boys have 60 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: yet to return, and as dusk falls, the boys' families 61 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:21,159 Speaker 1: begin to get seriously worried. Mister Kim, father of nine 62 00:04:21,200 --> 00:04:24,479 Speaker 1: year old young Chkh, knows there are some fierce dogs 63 00:04:24,720 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: kept part way up the mountain trail. He worries that 64 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:31,480 Speaker 1: the dogs might have escaped and attacked the boys, and 65 00:04:31,560 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: so the parents quickly assemble and begin to search the 66 00:04:34,520 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: mountain path, calling out their children's names as they climb 67 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 1: higher up into the trees, but they find no sign 68 00:04:42,360 --> 00:04:46,320 Speaker 1: of them. It is seven point fifty when they're reported 69 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:50,480 Speaker 1: missing to the police. With the help of some local officers, 70 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:53,280 Speaker 1: the parents continue to search for the boys into the 71 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,760 Speaker 1: early hours of the next morning, but still no sign 72 00:04:56,800 --> 00:05:01,520 Speaker 1: of them is found. The police see, I'm unconcerned. The 73 00:05:01,600 --> 00:05:05,279 Speaker 1: boys are just being boysed They say they'll come home eventually. 74 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:10,160 Speaker 1: That night, at his home, a petrified Kim he Undo 75 00:05:10,640 --> 00:05:15,599 Speaker 1: drifts into a fitful sleep and starts to dream. Rain 76 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,640 Speaker 1: pours down, sluicing off his home's roof, dripping noisily into 77 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:24,440 Speaker 1: its tiled courtyard. Heyon Deu stands on his porch and 78 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:27,960 Speaker 1: looks up to see his young son, yon Jiu, playing 79 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:32,159 Speaker 1: in the alley outside. It's a replay of the morning before, 80 00:05:32,640 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: turned hideously inside out. The boy pokes his head around 81 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:41,520 Speaker 1: the half open metal gates to the yard and smiles, Then, 82 00:05:41,560 --> 00:05:45,920 Speaker 1: without a word, he turns and scampers off. Gripped by terror, 83 00:05:46,160 --> 00:05:49,280 Speaker 1: heyon Deo runs after his son out through the gate 84 00:05:49,480 --> 00:05:53,719 Speaker 1: and into the narrow alleyway beyond its concrete walls, damp 85 00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: and stained with rust. Up Ahead, he sees the back 86 00:05:57,640 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: of his son as he runs up the alleyway. He 87 00:06:00,520 --> 00:06:03,840 Speaker 1: tears after him, frantically calling out for him to stop 88 00:06:03,880 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: and come back, but the boy never stops and never 89 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:11,440 Speaker 1: looks back. As he on Deo fights desperately to keep 90 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,480 Speaker 1: up with him, his son recedes ever further into the distance. 91 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:19,320 Speaker 1: Then he wakes with a gasp in the dark, his 92 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:24,039 Speaker 1: eyes streaming with tears, gripped by the horrifying certainty that 93 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: his beautiful son will never be coming home. When the 94 00:06:35,200 --> 00:06:37,960 Speaker 1: five young boys fail to return on the second day, 95 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:41,760 Speaker 1: the frantic parents demand more help from the police, only 96 00:06:41,839 --> 00:06:45,240 Speaker 1: to be told they still can't be categorized as officially missing, 97 00:06:45,760 --> 00:06:49,240 Speaker 1: and there's little they can do until then. The police 98 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,000 Speaker 1: also begin to wonder if the boys have run away. 99 00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:56,119 Speaker 1: Perhaps they've been getting up to mischief, because that's what's 100 00:06:56,160 --> 00:07:00,000 Speaker 1: expected of boys who come from lower income, working class family. 101 00:07:01,320 --> 00:07:03,600 Speaker 1: But there are no problems in any of their homes 102 00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:06,239 Speaker 1: and none of them have done anything like that before. 103 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:11,040 Speaker 1: The parents protest to no avail. Then one of the 104 00:07:11,080 --> 00:07:14,800 Speaker 1: fathers receives an anonymous phone call. The man on the 105 00:07:14,840 --> 00:07:17,240 Speaker 1: other end of the line claims to be holding the 106 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: missing children. He says that the boys are all suffering, 107 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,240 Speaker 1: that two are very ill, and that the parents must 108 00:07:24,320 --> 00:07:27,120 Speaker 1: bring a large sum of money to a street near 109 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:32,320 Speaker 1: Daegu's main train station before it is too late. Scraping 110 00:07:32,360 --> 00:07:35,480 Speaker 1: together what they can at short notice, the parents go 111 00:07:35,560 --> 00:07:39,160 Speaker 1: to the location the following evening, racked with worry but 112 00:07:39,320 --> 00:07:43,080 Speaker 1: also fuming with anger. They are ready to beat the 113 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: perpetrator to a pulp, but also determined to sacrifice all 114 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:51,480 Speaker 1: they own to get their boys back. Five, then ten, 115 00:07:52,120 --> 00:07:55,560 Speaker 1: then twenty minutes go by as the parents wait where 116 00:07:55,600 --> 00:07:59,080 Speaker 1: the caller had told them to go. They continue to 117 00:07:59,120 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: wait for another hour, feeling helpless, but in the end 118 00:08:03,080 --> 00:08:07,680 Speaker 1: no one comes. In the days following the boy's disappearance, 119 00:08:08,000 --> 00:08:11,560 Speaker 1: People in Daegu and across South Korea glue themselves to 120 00:08:11,600 --> 00:08:15,400 Speaker 1: their radios and TV sets, completely immersed in the emerging 121 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:19,280 Speaker 1: news from the elections. There is widespread interest in the 122 00:08:19,320 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 1: country's politics at the time, especially because of a growing 123 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 1: pro democracy movement struggling to emerge South Koreans since there 124 00:08:28,360 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: is a chance for a transition from military dictatorship to 125 00:08:31,880 --> 00:08:36,360 Speaker 1: free and fair elections on the horizon. It isn't until 126 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:39,440 Speaker 1: almost a week after the disappearance of the five boys 127 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,920 Speaker 1: from Dalso that the media really begins to pick up 128 00:08:42,920 --> 00:08:47,040 Speaker 1: the story. When one broadcast the reports that the boys 129 00:08:47,080 --> 00:08:50,160 Speaker 1: had gone to try and catch frogs. The missing children 130 00:08:50,400 --> 00:08:54,840 Speaker 1: become known as the Frog Boys. As public interest in 131 00:08:54,880 --> 00:08:58,400 Speaker 1: the case intensifies, the boy's parents are invited onto the 132 00:08:58,440 --> 00:09:02,320 Speaker 1: popular news program The Square of Public Opinions, where they 133 00:09:02,360 --> 00:09:06,080 Speaker 1: angrily lambass the police who continue to classify the boys 134 00:09:06,120 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: as runaways rather than missing. The program hosts phone lines 135 00:09:11,679 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: for members of the public to call if they have 136 00:09:13,960 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: any information on the boys. Suddenly, during the middle of 137 00:09:17,960 --> 00:09:21,200 Speaker 1: the broadcast, one of the phone operators shouts out to 138 00:09:21,240 --> 00:09:24,000 Speaker 1: the parents that they have one of the boys, Kim 139 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:28,200 Speaker 1: Yong Chikh on the line, the operator says the boy 140 00:09:28,240 --> 00:09:32,240 Speaker 1: is sobbing and asking to speak with his mother. Yong 141 00:09:32,280 --> 00:09:35,880 Speaker 1: Sheikh's mother rushes over, but by the time she reaches 142 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:39,680 Speaker 1: the phone, the caller has hung up. It is a 143 00:09:39,679 --> 00:09:53,040 Speaker 1: prank call. Though wild rumours quickly spread about what might 144 00:09:53,080 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: have happened to the boys, many believe they are still alive. 145 00:09:57,160 --> 00:10:00,480 Speaker 1: Back in nineteen seventy nine, close to the city, also 146 00:10:00,960 --> 00:10:05,560 Speaker 1: about eighty kilometers southwest of Daegu, three children aged between 147 00:10:05,679 --> 00:10:08,960 Speaker 1: six and seven went missing after going foraging on a 148 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:13,640 Speaker 1: nearby mountain. Rumours became widespread that a terrible fate had 149 00:10:13,679 --> 00:10:17,439 Speaker 1: befallen them, but after almost a month, the children turned 150 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:23,400 Speaker 1: up malnourished but alive, having simply got lost despite their 151 00:10:23,480 --> 00:10:26,679 Speaker 1: young age that used their knowledge of foraging to survive, 152 00:10:29,120 --> 00:10:33,240 Speaker 1: having done relatively little to help. On May fifth, six 153 00:10:33,280 --> 00:10:37,760 Speaker 1: weeks after the boys disappeared, President Rode Tewu issues a 154 00:10:37,840 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: special order mobilizing the police and military in a massive 155 00:10:41,840 --> 00:10:47,480 Speaker 1: search operation. In July, an investigation headquarters is established by 156 00:10:47,520 --> 00:10:51,600 Speaker 1: the Daegu Provincial Police Agency, and thousands of police and 157 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:56,160 Speaker 1: military officers are drafted in to help search teams form 158 00:10:56,280 --> 00:10:59,320 Speaker 1: lines and use sticks to probe the ground as they 159 00:10:59,400 --> 00:11:03,679 Speaker 1: go exhaust over the region surrounding the Salamander pond, and 160 00:11:03,760 --> 00:11:08,959 Speaker 1: then in widening circles around the entire mountain. The undergrowth 161 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,320 Speaker 1: on the mountain is short at that time, leaving few 162 00:11:12,360 --> 00:11:15,320 Speaker 1: places for the boys or their bodies to remain hidden. 163 00:11:16,000 --> 00:11:21,079 Speaker 1: But still nothing is found in lieu of any concrete answers. 164 00:11:21,280 --> 00:11:25,439 Speaker 1: The case attracts many false reports and prank calls. Meanwhile, 165 00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:28,720 Speaker 1: theories about what has happened to the Frog Boys get 166 00:11:28,800 --> 00:11:33,280 Speaker 1: more and more extravagant. Back in the nineteen seventies, North 167 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:37,480 Speaker 1: Korean agents kidnaps some South Korean high school students to 168 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,720 Speaker 1: help them train North Korean spies to blend into life 169 00:11:40,720 --> 00:11:44,240 Speaker 1: in the South. Some people wonder if the Frog Boys 170 00:11:44,280 --> 00:11:48,960 Speaker 1: were taken under similar circumstances. Some wonder if the boys 171 00:11:49,000 --> 00:11:52,640 Speaker 1: have been abducted by aliens. Others that a group of 172 00:11:52,679 --> 00:11:56,360 Speaker 1: patients suffering from leprosy have taken the boys to help 173 00:11:56,440 --> 00:12:01,120 Speaker 1: treat their disease. At one point, even visit a leper 174 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:05,480 Speaker 1: colony just in case the rumor is true. No end 175 00:12:05,520 --> 00:12:09,360 Speaker 1: of self described psychics and fortune tellers also join the 176 00:12:09,400 --> 00:12:12,600 Speaker 1: ranks of people claiming to have insights as to what 177 00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:16,079 Speaker 1: has happened to the boys and where they are, but 178 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:19,959 Speaker 1: no one can provide any information that brings the children back, 179 00:12:20,760 --> 00:12:23,920 Speaker 1: so the boys fathers decide to take matters into their 180 00:12:23,960 --> 00:12:34,160 Speaker 1: own hands. In the summer of nineteen ninety one, the 181 00:12:34,200 --> 00:12:37,440 Speaker 1: fathers of the missing boys quit their jobs and rent 182 00:12:37,480 --> 00:12:41,559 Speaker 1: a small truck. Together. They deck it out with posters 183 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,120 Speaker 1: containing pleas for information about their sons, as well as 184 00:12:45,160 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: a large portrait of each boy. Then the desperate fathers 185 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,559 Speaker 1: drive across South Korea, beseeching fellow citizens to help them 186 00:12:53,559 --> 00:12:57,680 Speaker 1: find their sons. Often, the fathers find a busy spot 187 00:12:57,720 --> 00:13:00,560 Speaker 1: in a city or town where they park and hand 188 00:13:00,559 --> 00:13:05,319 Speaker 1: out leaflets appealing for information. The men watch on hopefully 189 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: as one middle aged woman in a hurry pauses briefly 190 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,720 Speaker 1: to grab a flyer, only to then use it to 191 00:13:11,760 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: wipe chewing gum off the sole of her shoe. On 192 00:13:15,720 --> 00:13:19,480 Speaker 1: the first anniversary of the disappearance, in March nineteen ninety two, 193 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: the parents hold a press conference involving media representatives from 194 00:13:23,840 --> 00:13:28,120 Speaker 1: across South Korea. At some point, people begin to notice 195 00:13:28,160 --> 00:13:30,600 Speaker 1: a number of men in the audience who don't look 196 00:13:30,640 --> 00:13:35,320 Speaker 1: like journalists taking notes. Whenever the parents speak. It later 197 00:13:35,400 --> 00:13:39,360 Speaker 1: transpires that the men are from an unnamed intelligence agency. 198 00:13:40,080 --> 00:13:44,040 Speaker 1: For several months, they have shadowed the fathers, recording every 199 00:13:44,080 --> 00:13:47,600 Speaker 1: detail of what they do and where they go. Some 200 00:13:47,840 --> 00:13:50,959 Speaker 1: have even turned up at the boy's homes, claiming they 201 00:13:50,960 --> 00:13:54,680 Speaker 1: are there for the parent's protection. It is the final 202 00:13:54,760 --> 00:13:58,200 Speaker 1: indignity that the boy's own fathers are now in the 203 00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:02,800 Speaker 1: frame for the disappearance of their children. As month after 204 00:14:02,920 --> 00:14:07,080 Speaker 1: month rolls by, the fathers continue to drive across South Korea, 205 00:14:07,120 --> 00:14:11,560 Speaker 1: pleading for any information that will help find the missing boys. 206 00:14:12,320 --> 00:14:16,760 Speaker 1: They continue for three long years, but finally, disheartened and 207 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: in serious debt, the fathers hold another press conference in 208 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:24,080 Speaker 1: the nation's capital, Soul to announce that they are giving 209 00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:27,160 Speaker 1: up their search. They will go back to what is 210 00:14:27,240 --> 00:14:30,360 Speaker 1: left with their families and attempt to restore some measure 211 00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,840 Speaker 1: of normality to their daily lives. For their part, the 212 00:14:34,880 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 1: police continue their efforts. Twenty thousand leaflets containing computer generated 213 00:14:40,640 --> 00:14:44,280 Speaker 1: images of how the children might look now are distributed. 214 00:14:45,120 --> 00:14:49,840 Speaker 1: One thousand welfare facilities and religious organizations, along with eleven 215 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:54,760 Speaker 1: thousand households and forty eight mountain areas are searched. Eighteen 216 00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,840 Speaker 1: hundred elementary school pupils are questioned, along with around nineteen 217 00:15:00,000 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 1: thousand industrial complex workers. Around five hundred and seventy reports 218 00:15:05,840 --> 00:15:08,960 Speaker 1: as to the boys whereabouts are received from all across 219 00:15:09,000 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: the nation, even from fishing boats along South Korea's extensive coastline. 220 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:18,680 Speaker 1: Several large Korean companies also join in the effort to 221 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,560 Speaker 1: help the search, with details about the case and requests 222 00:15:22,600 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: for information being printed on all manner of products, from 223 00:15:26,320 --> 00:15:31,240 Speaker 1: cigarettes to milk cartons, sweet wrappers and telephone cards. Po 224 00:15:31,360 --> 00:15:35,280 Speaker 1: Hag Steel and Korean Airways also provide money for the 225 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: police to distribute tens of thousands of flyers with employees 226 00:15:39,080 --> 00:15:44,120 Speaker 1: and customers. But finally, after five years of fruitless searching, 227 00:15:44,760 --> 00:15:49,280 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety six, the Frog Boys Investigation Department of 228 00:15:49,320 --> 00:15:54,480 Speaker 1: the Daegu Police Agency is disbanded. The search is transferred 229 00:15:54,560 --> 00:15:58,160 Speaker 1: to the local Dalso Police station, where the local police 230 00:15:58,240 --> 00:16:02,160 Speaker 1: chief takes over the investigations with the team of just 231 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:16,000 Speaker 1: ten men. For the missing boy's parents, who are still 232 00:16:16,080 --> 00:16:19,760 Speaker 1: under intense public and media scrutiny, the years since their 233 00:16:19,760 --> 00:16:24,240 Speaker 1: boy's disappearance have been interminably hard. Not only are they 234 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:27,800 Speaker 1: dealing with the heartbreak of losing their children, Any sign 235 00:16:27,880 --> 00:16:31,160 Speaker 1: of happiness in the fleeting moment that they might experience, 236 00:16:31,200 --> 00:16:36,160 Speaker 1: it must be fiercely suppressed. If not, the press might 237 00:16:36,280 --> 00:16:39,240 Speaker 1: use it as evidence that the parents never really cared 238 00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:42,320 Speaker 1: about their boys and that they are the ones truly 239 00:16:42,400 --> 00:16:46,440 Speaker 1: had fault for them going missing. Some members of the 240 00:16:46,480 --> 00:16:51,360 Speaker 1: media continue to harass the families on occasion, manipulating their 241 00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:56,400 Speaker 1: words and even publishing fake stories about them. But eventually 242 00:16:56,760 --> 00:16:59,720 Speaker 1: even the media grow tired of the story and it 243 00:16:59,760 --> 00:17:05,080 Speaker 1: can completely drops from their headlines. Then one day, the 244 00:17:05,200 --> 00:17:09,879 Speaker 1: parents receive an unexpected calls out of the blue. The 245 00:17:09,960 --> 00:17:14,200 Speaker 1: families are contacted by military personnel from the fiftieth Division 246 00:17:14,320 --> 00:17:17,199 Speaker 1: of the South Korean Army, who happen to have a 247 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,399 Speaker 1: base close to where the five boys went missing. The 248 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 1: parents are told that military personnel want to see them 249 00:17:24,600 --> 00:17:30,399 Speaker 1: all without the police knowing. Rain lashes down and water 250 00:17:30,600 --> 00:17:34,400 Speaker 1: sluices along the drains in the narrow concrete alleyways as 251 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:38,320 Speaker 1: the parents gather outside their homes before being escorted by 252 00:17:38,359 --> 00:17:43,560 Speaker 1: soldiers into minibuses. The parents are driven the short distance 253 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:48,000 Speaker 1: to the military base and through the gates. Commissioned army 254 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: officers greet them and lead them through the rain into 255 00:17:51,240 --> 00:17:55,200 Speaker 1: a large tent where more officers and some regular soldiers 256 00:17:55,240 --> 00:18:00,240 Speaker 1: are waiting for them. Mystified and alarmed, the parents come 257 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,159 Speaker 1: even more confused when one of the officers steps forward 258 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,080 Speaker 1: to speak. He tells them that one of his soldiers 259 00:18:08,160 --> 00:18:12,800 Speaker 1: is a medium who has special talents. In fact, continues 260 00:18:12,840 --> 00:18:16,040 Speaker 1: the officer, this soldier will be able to give the 261 00:18:16,119 --> 00:18:20,280 Speaker 1: parents supernatural powers which will help them find their children. 262 00:18:22,000 --> 00:18:25,560 Speaker 1: Before the bemused parents can ask any questions, a man 263 00:18:25,680 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: steps forward and proceeds to solemnly place his hands on 264 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: each side of Kim Kiondu's head, father of missing boy 265 00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:38,280 Speaker 1: Young Jieu. The man feels nothing, but then his wife, 266 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:41,359 Speaker 1: with a boldness none of her neighbors have ever seen 267 00:18:41,400 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: her display, suddenly demands that everyone follow her outside and 268 00:18:45,920 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: into the deluge. The woman begins striding up the mountain 269 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:54,560 Speaker 1: as if totally convinced where she is going, and everyone 270 00:18:54,800 --> 00:18:59,640 Speaker 1: hurriedly follows. It's hard to walk, as the heavy rain 271 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:03,200 Speaker 1: has turned the mountain slopes into a quagmire, and most 272 00:19:03,200 --> 00:19:07,280 Speaker 1: of the parents have only their regular shoes on. They 273 00:19:07,359 --> 00:19:11,880 Speaker 1: stagger uphill, slipping and sliding on the muddy terrain. Then 274 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:16,320 Speaker 1: missus Kim suddenly stops and screams while pointing at a 275 00:19:16,320 --> 00:19:20,400 Speaker 1: spot in front of her. The children are there, she yells, 276 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:33,159 Speaker 1: I can see them. Unnerved, everyone looks around, their flashlights 277 00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,440 Speaker 1: cutting through the drenching rain, but to their immense distress, 278 00:19:38,160 --> 00:19:42,520 Speaker 1: there is no sign of the children. Eventually, the search 279 00:19:42,640 --> 00:19:46,960 Speaker 1: is suspended and the disconsolate parents are returned home without 280 00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:52,119 Speaker 1: a further word of explanation. It is January nineteen ninety 281 00:19:52,160 --> 00:19:56,000 Speaker 1: six when a well groomed, respectable man dressed in a 282 00:19:56,000 --> 00:19:58,960 Speaker 1: black suit comes to speak with some of the parents. 283 00:20:00,040 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: The man is not from the government, but a psychology 284 00:20:02,800 --> 00:20:06,920 Speaker 1: professor named Kim Garwan, who tells them that he's spent 285 00:20:07,040 --> 00:20:11,720 Speaker 1: some time studying criminal psychology in the USA. As the 286 00:20:11,760 --> 00:20:15,680 Speaker 1: professor goes on to explain to the desperate parents, having 287 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:19,520 Speaker 1: reviewed the available evidence, he believes he knows exactly what 288 00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:23,800 Speaker 1: happened to the five missing boys. He tells them first 289 00:20:24,160 --> 00:20:26,919 Speaker 1: that it is his firm belief that they never actually 290 00:20:27,000 --> 00:20:30,760 Speaker 1: went up into the mountain. For a long time, he's 291 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: been developing doubts about the alibi of Kim chio Du, 292 00:20:34,760 --> 00:20:38,320 Speaker 1: father of Yong Sheikh, one of the missing boys, who's 293 00:20:38,359 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: been somewhat vague about his whereabouts for three hours on 294 00:20:42,119 --> 00:20:46,280 Speaker 1: the afternoon the boys went missing. The reason, according to 295 00:20:46,320 --> 00:20:50,719 Speaker 1: the professor, is clear. Mister Kim is the killer, and 296 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:53,920 Speaker 1: if his suspicions are correct, they will find the remains 297 00:20:53,960 --> 00:21:00,240 Speaker 1: of all five boys underneath mister Kim's own house. Very 298 00:21:00,280 --> 00:21:04,280 Speaker 1: few criminal psychologists in South Korea in the mid nineteen nineties, 299 00:21:04,840 --> 00:21:08,880 Speaker 1: Professor Kim's rarity, combined with the utter confidence with which 300 00:21:08,920 --> 00:21:12,440 Speaker 1: he announces his reasoning, are enough to convince the police 301 00:21:12,680 --> 00:21:17,040 Speaker 1: that his claims were at least worth investigating. Several of 302 00:21:17,040 --> 00:21:20,159 Speaker 1: the boy's parents openly tell the professor that he is 303 00:21:20,200 --> 00:21:25,159 Speaker 1: completely wrong, but some also begin to wander, and so 304 00:21:25,760 --> 00:21:30,600 Speaker 1: one weekday, afternoon, police officers accompanied by workmen armed with 305 00:21:30,680 --> 00:21:34,719 Speaker 1: sledge hammers, pickaxes and shovels, all watched on by the 306 00:21:34,760 --> 00:21:38,920 Speaker 1: parents of the missing boys and other curious neighbors, turn 307 00:21:39,040 --> 00:21:43,399 Speaker 1: up at the Kim family home. Before long, the media 308 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:48,960 Speaker 1: have arrived too, to film the unfolding events. Inside the home, 309 00:21:49,520 --> 00:21:52,160 Speaker 1: police find an area at the back where a new 310 00:21:52,200 --> 00:21:57,040 Speaker 1: toilet and cement floor have quite clearly only recently been installed. 311 00:21:58,280 --> 00:22:02,600 Speaker 1: The accused Fatherill Gioux, watches on with anguish as the 312 00:22:02,680 --> 00:22:06,680 Speaker 1: workmen get to work, swinging their sledgehammers and pickaxes at 313 00:22:06,680 --> 00:22:10,200 Speaker 1: the back wall of the house. Then others quickly join 314 00:22:10,280 --> 00:22:15,080 Speaker 1: in excavating the area around the toilet. As police investigators 315 00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:19,719 Speaker 1: warm all over the family's belongings, They move furniture and 316 00:22:19,800 --> 00:22:23,600 Speaker 1: scatter the belongings into the yard as they search for clues. 317 00:22:30,760 --> 00:22:34,119 Speaker 1: After hours of searching, with only a five foot trench 318 00:22:34,280 --> 00:22:36,600 Speaker 1: dug into the back of the Kim property to chow 319 00:22:36,680 --> 00:22:40,920 Speaker 1: frit only then do people begin to question the psychology 320 00:22:40,960 --> 00:22:45,400 Speaker 1: professor's logic. Even if the were three hours unaccounted for 321 00:22:45,560 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 1: in the father's schedule, how would he have had the 322 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:51,920 Speaker 1: time to kill all five children, including his own son, 323 00:22:52,359 --> 00:22:57,440 Speaker 1: then bury them and completely hide the evidence of his crime. Finally, 324 00:22:57,840 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: after a day of searching, with some embarrassment, the police 325 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:06,320 Speaker 1: announce they have drawn a blank. Nothing at all incriminating 326 00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:12,719 Speaker 1: is found. As the professor tries to make an inconspicuous exit, 327 00:23:13,280 --> 00:23:17,159 Speaker 1: enraged onlookers begin chanting to catch him and attempt to 328 00:23:17,200 --> 00:23:19,800 Speaker 1: rush at him. The police are forced to make a 329 00:23:19,880 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: cordon shielding the disgraced psychologist and hurry him into a 330 00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:28,640 Speaker 1: police car before driving off at speed. The following day, 331 00:23:29,119 --> 00:23:32,399 Speaker 1: under the full glare of the media, Professor Kim is 332 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,320 Speaker 1: forced to make a full apology to the parents, but 333 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:42,399 Speaker 1: especially to the wrongly accused father, Chure Giu. Before the 334 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,160 Speaker 1: boys went missing, Kim chi or Giu was a robust 335 00:23:46,200 --> 00:23:50,200 Speaker 1: and healthy man, but after this incident, his health goes 336 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:54,280 Speaker 1: downhill fast. He turns to drink to numb the pain 337 00:23:54,359 --> 00:23:58,480 Speaker 1: of it all. Within a year, he is diagnosed with 338 00:23:58,600 --> 00:24:02,280 Speaker 1: liver cancer and dies shortly after, still in his forties, 339 00:24:02,840 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: having never found out the truth about his son's disappearance. 340 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: Though the official cause was his cancer, those closest to 341 00:24:12,160 --> 00:24:15,120 Speaker 1: him know that the stress of everything that had happened 342 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: was a major contributing factor. Other parents also lose themselves 343 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: in drink or become severely depressed. They find it hard 344 00:24:26,000 --> 00:24:30,760 Speaker 1: to hold down jobs. Part Gun Sou, father of chan In, 345 00:24:31,240 --> 00:24:34,560 Speaker 1: who was ten when he went missing, is consumed with 346 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: unresolved anger. He repeatedly gets into fights with the police 347 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,119 Speaker 1: and is eventually placed in a detention center for a while. 348 00:24:44,840 --> 00:24:48,480 Speaker 1: Only one thing keeps him and the remaining parents going, 349 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: the hope that they might finally one day find their sons. 350 00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:03,040 Speaker 1: You've been listen link to Unexplained Season eight, episode twenty nine. 351 00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:07,439 Speaker 1: Go tell fire to the Mountain Part one. The second 352 00:25:07,480 --> 00:25:13,480 Speaker 1: and final part will be released next Friday, May sixteenth. 353 00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:18,119 Speaker 1: This episode was written by Diane Hope and Richard McClain smith. 354 00:25:19,680 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: Diane is an audio producer and sound recordist in her 355 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,280 Speaker 1: own right. You can find out more about her work 356 00:25:25,480 --> 00:25:29,480 Speaker 1: at Dianehope dot com and on Instagram at in the 357 00:25:29,600 --> 00:25:35,359 Speaker 1: sound Field. Unexplained is an Avy Club Productions podcast created 358 00:25:35,400 --> 00:25:39,040 Speaker 1: by Richard McClain Smith. All other elements of the podcast, 359 00:25:39,119 --> 00:25:45,000 Speaker 1: including the music, are also produced by me Richard McClain smith. Unexplained. 360 00:25:45,000 --> 00:25:48,679 Speaker 1: The book and audiobook is now available to buy worldwide. 361 00:25:49,040 --> 00:25:52,919 Speaker 1: You can purchase from Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Waterstones, and 362 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:57,359 Speaker 1: other bookstores. Please subscribe to and rate the show wherever 363 00:25:57,400 --> 00:26:00,040 Speaker 1: you get your podcasts, and feel free to get in 364 00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:03,560 Speaker 1: touch with any thoughts or ideas regarding the stories you've 365 00:26:03,600 --> 00:26:06,320 Speaker 1: heard on the show. Perhaps you have an explanation of 366 00:26:06,359 --> 00:26:09,080 Speaker 1: your own you'd like to share. You can find out 367 00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: more at Unexplained podcast dot com and reach us online 368 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:18,040 Speaker 1: through Twitter at Unexplained Pod and Facebook at Facebook dot com. 369 00:26:18,040 --> 00:27:41,359 Speaker 1: Forward Slash Unexplained Podcast. 370 00:27:00,760 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 2: Two tund bud ounper b b b b ounper time 371 00:29:07,440 --> 00:30:05,560 Speaker 2: Time Dan Assass