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True Crime In series
Take a stroll through the darker side of Korea’s past
#Korean crime
# True crime
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True Crime In series
Take a stroll through the darker side of Korea’s past
Would you like to subscribe?
True Crime (16) Rise of a drug kingpin behind bars
Park Wang-yeol left South Korea a failed businessman and accused of fraud. Then came a triple murder in a Philippine sugarcane field, two prison escapes, and an international drug ring run from behind bars that stretched back into South Korea. Repatriated in March, after years of efforts by South Korea, Park was escorted at the airport by several police officers and surrounded by journalists. Seemingly unfazed, he recognized a reporter who had interviewed him while in prison in the Philippines a
Oct. 1, 2026 - 08:00:00
True Crime (15) Killed, then branded a spy
In January 1987, the South Korean Embassy in Singapore got a call from the US Embassy about a suspicious asylum seeker, a 28-year-old Korean named Yun Tae-shik. Yun claimed he had narrowly escaped an attempted kidnapping by North Korean agents, alleging that the operation’s point person was none other than his wife. But his story quickly began to unravel. It was soon revealed that Yun had attempted to defect to North Korea before approaching the US Embassy. Further interrogation revealed a far d
Sept. 10, 2026 - 09:00:00
True Crime (14) Korean TV's worst #MeToo case never reached trial
The #MeToo movement pulled back the curtain on toxic work cultures in the entertainment industry — exposing how powerful men exploited women behind the scenes. In the United States, the fall of Harvey Weinstein became a defining moment, leading to convictions and a broader reckoning in Hollywood. But in South Korea, there is a case that never reached that point. In 2004, a 29-year-old female graduate student claimed she was gang-raped while working as an extra and sexually harassed by multiple T
May 28, 2026 - 09:35:27
True Crime (13) Dictator's spy chief disappears without a trace in 1979
"His Excellency doesn't allow his second-in-command to live." In the 2020 movie "The Man Standing Next," the character Park Yong-gak, based on former Korean Central Intelligence Agency chief Kim Hyung-wook, utters the ominous line about then-President Park Chung-hee. Kim, once at the pinnacle of power, went missing after last being seen at a hotel casino in Paris on Oct. 7, 1979. The Park administration remained silent on what happened to the man who headed the KCIA for six years, longer than an
April 23, 2026 - 08:56:05
True Crime (12) When fantasy became fatal
Human fascination with mysticism and the afterlife has endured for millennia -- from protective spells in ancient Mesopotamia to prohibitions against magic in the Hebrew Bible, from necromancy in folklore across cultures to the hysteria of the Salem witch trials, where more than 200 people were accused of witchcraft. Today, few people would still believe it is truly possible to cast a curse or summon the dead. But in 2012, in South Korea, a small group of teenagers and young adults became engros
March 26, 2026 - 09:40:48
True Crime (11) Monstrous side of 'Molar Daddy'
Lee Young-hak was once a darling of the South Korean public. In 2005, the inspirational tale of how he overcame a rare disease to become a loving father and husband touched people across the country. Donations poured in to help him, his wife and his daughter, who had the same disease. The public gave him the nickname "Molar Daddy" after the rare disease, known as gigantiform cementoma, that caused disfigurement of his and his daughter's mouths. But a horrifying truth was uncovered a decade later
March 12, 2026 - 09:00:00
True Crime (10) Killing in the name of love
There are countless murders in this world. Some are driven by rage, others by revenge -- or by money. But what if someone kills without hatred, without greed, claiming instead that they did it out of love? What if the victims were not strangers, but one’s own parents, one’s wife, one’s children? Today’s story is about a man who killed his entire family, believing he was protecting them from future hardship. This story begins with a single text message a woman received from her younger brother, s
Feb. 19, 2026 - 09:34:22
True Crime (9) His parents killed his spirit. Then he killed them
"I understand why he did it." The words came from Lee Gi-seok, the older brother of a man accused of killing his parents, during a police interrogation. The statement stunned investigators. The victims — Lee’s mother and father — had been discovered on May 24, 2000, dismembered and stuffed into garbage bags. The suspect in custody was their younger son, Lee Eun-seok. From the outside, the Lee brothers appeared to be well brought up, from an unremarkable, even enviable, family. Both of their pare
Jan. 29, 2026 - 09:00:00
True Crime (8) Bodies in rice sacks — and the bunny sticker that misled everyone
On Nov. 21, South Korean investigators finally identified the man behind two long-unsolved murders in Seoul’s Sinjeong-dong, a case popularly known as the “Mashimaro murder.” The nickname came from the widely told account of a woman long believed to be the sole survivor, who recalled seeing a sticker of Mashimaro, a cute, bunnylike character, while hiding from her kidnapper. But here’s the twist: Police now say the survivor’s story and the detail that gave the case its nickname had nothing to do
Jan. 8, 2026 - 09:30:00
True Crime (7) Phantom of the high-rise
South Korea boasts a remarkably high murder case clearance rate, reaching nearly 98 percent in 2022, according to government data. By comparison, the United States solves only around 58 to 60 percent of murder cases. If you know Korea, it’s not hard to see why. The country is a surveillance-heavy society, where nine out of 10 cars are equipped with dashcams, and security cameras are nearly everywhere, from homes to city streets. In a country so closely watched, it seems almost impossible for a c
Dec. 18, 2025 - 09:00:00
True Crime (6) Marrying to kill
A marriage is meant to be the ultimate expression of love, a sacred vow between two people, blessed and celebrated by family and friends. A promise of loyalty, trust and lifelong partnership. But what if that bond is tainted from the very beginning? What happens when one walks down the aisle with love in their heart, while the other sees only images of money? Such was the marriage of Lee Eun-hae and Yoon Sang-yeop. In this episode, we dive into a 2019 case known as the Gapyeong valley murder, wh
Nov. 20, 2025 - 17:06:12
True Crime (5) Mysterious death of man nailed to a cross
A man is dead, nailed to a cross. Barely clothed, with both hands and feet pierced by nails, he has a deep wound in his side and a crown of thorns pressed onto his head. But this is not the crucifixion of Jesus of Nazareth. It’s a crime scene in South Korea, around the time of Easter 2011. On an abandoned quarry hillside in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province, a 57-year-old man was found dead on a cross, in a haunting tableau that eerily mirrored the Passion of Christ. Fourteen years later, the
Oct. 23, 2025 - 09:00:00
True Crime (4) The forgotten killer: Kim Dae-doo
Why do some killers capture more attention than others? In South Korea's relatively short list of serial killers, there are infamous figures whose crimes have inspired acclaimed films such as the 2003 film "Memories of Murder" and 2008's "The Chaser." However, the man featured in this episode doesn't quite fit that mold. Despite his staggering murder count and the brutal nature of his killings, he remains largely forgotten among South Koreans today. In fact, he has never gained the same level of
Oct. 1, 2025 - 09:00:00
True Crime (3) Vanished on Suneung day: Pocheon kidnapping and murder
A thinly framed girl in a school uniform walks along a narrow shortcut on the outskirts of town. Quiet and dimly lit, the rhythmic crunch of her footsteps on the pavement is the only sign of human presence. “I’m walking home, mom” her voice on the phone echoes alongside her tread. Home is just 700 meters down this eerily deserted path, the quickest route home. What should have been a few minutes’ walk, however, turned into an agonizing wait for her mom and all those who knew her, stretching from
Sept. 4, 2025 - 09:00:00
True Crime (2) Frog Boys mystery
Have you heard of the Frog Boys? No, it’s not some quirky K-pop group — it’s a name tied to one of Korea’s most haunting mysteries. In the early 1990s, five young boys set out on a forest excursion and never came home. Their sudden disappearance sent shockwaves across the nation. Their faces became impossible to avoid, plastered everywhere from milk cartons to detergent boxes. It was a story that no Korean who lived through that era could escape. In this episode of True Crime, we take you back t
Aug. 14, 2025 - 09:00:00
