Kim Ju-cheol left his boys with their mother and told them he would be back in time for the upcoming holiday. Days passed, and no one heard from him. When his family went to the police, they were told that a missing person report couldn't be filed. It wouldn't be until three weeks later that police began searching for Kim Ju-cheol in the rocky gorge of Inje Valley. Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to…
In January 1987, businessman Yoon Tae-sik appeared on live national television claiming he had narrowly escaped being abducted to Pyongyang by his wife, who had been hiding that she was a North Korean spy. In reality, 34-year-old migrant worker Kim Ok-bun lay dead beneath the bed of their Hong Kong flat, strangled by Tae-sik during a dispute over money. For the next 15 years, the South Korean government would fabricate a cover-up of Ok-bun's murder to use as state propaganda against North Korea. Join our discord today! If…
The emergency dispatcher answered a call on July 12, 2023. "If I’m a high school senior, and I’m seventeen years old, and I haven't had my birthday yet... if someone commits murder, do they get a five-year sentence? If I confess, can I get a reduction?" When the police arrived, they would discover a toxic friendship that resulted in the death of a 17 year old girl. Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to support…
In August 1997, police responded to an emergency and found a woman unconscious in a pool of blood. Thirty-five meters away, behind a temporary construction wall, her coworker Go Chun-ja lay beneath a zelkova tree undiscovered until the following morning. On the other side of Jeju Island, a near-identical crime occurred in a cafe at the same time. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean…
On January 24, 2007, a man was stopped at Ansan Station dragging a heavy suitcase that was leaving a fresh trail of blood across the floor tiles. When a station worker confronted him, he claimed the bag just held 40kg of pork. When he wasn't allowed to board the train, he abandoned the suitcase in the men's bathroom. After a janitor discovered what was inside, police launched a massive search through Wongok-dong, a neighborhood where the local migrant workers were distrustful of the police.Find our merch here: …
Early 2026, Ga-in survived being held captive for 12 hours. The police took her report and sent a text to the perpetrator telling him to "cease all contact with the victim". For the next 30 hours, Jang Yoon-ki would stalk her apartment, purchase two knives, and then give up to find another target. That is when he found 16-year-old Chae-won walking home from studying at the library. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today!…
Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com In May 2016, a 23-year-old woman excused herself to use the restroom. When her boyfriend went to check on her 13 minutes later, he opened the door to find the crime scene that would change Korea's discussions on women's rights forever. Investigators quickly apprehended the Kim Seong-min, but early media leaks and sensationalized clickbait framing immediately triggered an unprecedented revolt online. Over the next month, over 35,000 post-it notes would be placed…
In 2020, the police raided a large country home where multiple victims alleged they had been held against their will, beaten, and forced to work for upwards of 70 hours a week for free. When the police gained entry, they found that the church, Repent Heaven, had 20 years of financial records from over 130 members. But it wouldn't be until victims started to come forward that the investigators would realize they'd uncovered a human breeding cult.Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com…
Full Episode on Patreon December 2001, inseparable best friends Kim Gimin and Min Kyungmi vanished after stepping out of a taxi at a Daegu bus terminal. Their disappearances wouldn't be investigated due to a police protocol that categorized them as voluntary runaways. The girls had said they were going to meet an older male friend who drove a fancy black car. Weeks later, Gimin's mother would receive a call from a restricted number and hear her daughter scream, "Save me"! Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com…
Oh Hwi-woong was executed for the 1974 murders of Jeong Si-hwa and his two young children despite a complete lack of physical evidence linking him to the crime scene. Despite having an alibi, he was found guilty. Decades later, even the presiding judge would be haunted by lifelong regret over signing the execution warrant. How did they allow an innocent man to hang? Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean…
17-year-old Han In-taek dialed 112 to contact the police in a desperate attempt to save his life. The call lasted 20 seconds before In-taek went silent. The recording of the emergency call would begin a chain reaction of coerced confessions and a contaminated witness testimony. Whose name did they truly hear on that recording? Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send…
Yoon Ji-a was a rising star on TikTok with dreams of becoming an actress. In May 2025, her social media career took off after she met a VIP donator named Black Cat. He promised to manage her social media account and teach her how to become famous, but over time, his demands became increasingly controlling. When Ji-a tried to end her contract with Black Cat, he kidnapped her and ended her life just 27 minutes after her last broadcast. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our…
In October 2001, sixty migrants boarded a smuggling ship from China to South Korea in search of a better life. To avoid detection by a maritime patrol, the crew forced twenty-five of those people into a tiny, airtight gear locker. After three hours, only thirty-five would emerge from the ship alive.Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve…
Lee Mansoo (pseudonym) was panicking when his wife wouldn't return his calls. After calling a friend to check his house and returning with no response, he called the restaurant downstairs. The owner climbed into their home through a service hatch and was met with an unmistakable metallic smell. When searching the house, the man discovered Seo Youngja (pseudonym) dead on the bedroom floor with bloody prints leaving the crime scene.Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord…
Full Episode on Patreon Yeom Seon-hui was a devoted daughter who thanklessly managed her family’s successful barbecue restaurant. When the business struggled during the COVID-19 pandemic, her parents turned to her maternal aunt, a practicing shaman named Kim Sookja (pseudonym), to help resurrect their finances. However, Kim Sookja soon told the family there was evil lingering around them. Seon-hui was possessed by a "lustful spirit" that intended to murder her own mother. Kim Sookja convinced the family that a purification ritual was the only way to save Seon-hui and the business. Find our…
On March 2, 2021, Master Sergeant Lee Ye-ram got into her superiors car, unaware that the next twenty minutes would end her career and change her life forever. In the eighty-one days that followed, the ROK Air Force would gaslight her into silence until she could no longer see a way out. Justice wouldn't be pursued until 400,000 Koreans signed a government petition to demand a thorough investigation. What should have been the end of a man's career, led to the end of a woman's life. Find our merch here: …
On May 25, 2019, Kang Sungjin (pseudonym) drove to meet his ex-wife for a custody exchange but never returned. In the days that followed, surveillance footage and purchase records began to show the demented actions of his ex-wife. As investigators uncovered Koh Yoo-jeong's online searches, purchases, and travel records, they would discover a woman who killed merely for convenience. What began as a custody dispute ended in the murder of a father who merely wanted to see his son. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com…
On July 9th, 2007, a 25-year-old currency exchange worker in Anyang was found murdered beneath her boss's desk. For five years, the case went cold while a group of men fled across borders to build a "murder enterprise" in the Philippines. They didn't just kidnap for ransom; staged scandals to extort Korean tourists into a silence that lasted nearly a decade. It would take a father’s tragic letter and a cellmate's confession to finally uncover the secrets buried beneath a living room floor in Manila. Find our merch here: …
In 2006, Park Nam-hee vanished without a trace. For two years, her government disability benefits were quietly withdrawn each month. No one reported her missing. It wasn’t until 2011 that her dismembered remains were discovered inside a handcart abandoned less than a block from her home. The suspect was a man praised as a volunteer "king", a charitable caretaker, and a reformed convict. But the truth may never be known. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today!…
In November 2019, a couple traveled to Jeju Island to celebrate their 300 day anniversary. That evening, a late-night drive ended in a crash that would lead to Ms. Jo's death nine months later. What the police believed was a drunk driving accident turned into a homicide investigation. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to support…
In 2022, the bodies of eight-year-old Yuna Jo and six-year-old Minu Jo were discovered inside suitcases purchased from an abandoned storage unit in South Auckland. The children had been dead for four years, yet no missing persons report had been filed. The police quickly discovered the perpetrator: their mother. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If…
An adult home-video VHS tape would begin showing up in markets across the nation in 1997. Decades later, it would still be sought after online. The Red Scarf Video would become a glaring example of the flourishing market for CSAM. But how would people react once the underbelly was exposed? Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to support the…
Cho Seong-ho found himself penniless and drowning in debt, forced to live with an older man who propositioned him in exchange for rent money. When he tried to collect what was owed, the man began to belittle him until Seong-ho snapped. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to support the show or find show sources for free, …
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 Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show. If you'd like to support the show or find…
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 here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please…
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? Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please…
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. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback!…
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. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and…
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. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com Join our discord today! If you enjoy Korean True Crime, please rate, follow, and send feedback! It helps me continue to improve the show.…
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, news, and politics who came together to ensure her story died with her. Find our merch here: https://koreantruecrime-shop.fourthwall.com…
About Korean True Crime
Korean True Crime covers all of the horrors that South Korea has to offer, including serial killers, murders, unsolved mysteries, and more!
Korean True Crime is a English true crime podcast from Mimi Mizicko. Melo plays each episode straight from the publisher's own feed — no ads added, no account needed — and remembers where you stopped, in this browser only.
The Melo app keeps playing with the screen off, works in the car and on your watch, wakes you to your station, and browses the whole catalogue offline. Free, no ads, no account.
