Episode Summary
When five young boys vanish from their village in South Korea, local authorities are quick to assume they ran away. However, their parents know that’s not what happened – and as their search for their children expands, they become convinced that something terrible happened… and it’s being covered up.
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Episode Info
The “Frog Boys” of South Korea from left to right: Kim Young-gyu, Kim Jong-sik, Park Chan-in, Woo Cheol-won, Jo Ho-yeon.
In 2019, a documentary titled In Search of the Frog Boys was released covering the disappearances of the five boys.
The fathers of all five of the boys quit their jobs, rented a truck and drove around the country searching for their sons.
The skeletal remains of all five of the boys were discovered in September of 2002, but they were greatly mishandled and improperly processed.
The boys were cremated and a memorial service was held for them in 2004, 13 years after they initially went missing.
Episode Source Material
- YouTube: In Search Of The Frog Boys – Limited Series, 2 Episodes, 1.
- YouTube: In Search Of The Frog Boys – Limited Series, 2 Episodes, 2.
- Naver (Seongnam-si, South Korea): 5 missing Korean school students remain missing for 3 days via Internet Archive.
- The Dong-a Ilbo (Seoul, South Korea): Police Continue Excavation, Find Loaded Shell Near the Site, by Sung-Kyu Kim.
- Waterloo Region Record (Kitchener, Ontario, Canada): Bodies found of five boys missing for 11 years, by Associated Press via Newspapers.com.
- Korea JoongAng Daily (Seoul, South Korea): ‘Frog boys’ baffle investigators, by Hwang Sun-yoon via Internet Archive.
- Korea JoongAng Daily (Seoul, South Korea): Bodies of 5 ‘frog boys,’ missing since 1991, found on mountain, by Hwang Sun-yoon.
- Korea JoongAng Daily (Seoul, South Korea): Questions linger in ‘frog boy’ case, by Hwang Sun-yoon.
- Korea JoongAng Daily (Seoul, South Korea): Parents cast doubt on police suggestion, say boys were killed, by Hong Gweon-sam.
- CNA Insider (Singapore): Intrigue, scandal, heartbreak: The case of South Korea’s missing ‘frog boys’.
- National Museum of Korean Contemporary History: Education Materials: Democracy in South Korea.
- The Ohio State University College of Arts and Sciences East Asian Center: Politics and Protest in South Korea Timeline.
- The Straits Times: South Korea removes statute of limitations on murder.