Shows / True Crime
True Crime
Welcome to "True Crime," a podcast that explores real-life crimes that have shocked and shaped South Korea. Based on original reporting by The Korea Herald and produced by our newsroom, this series takes you beyond the headlines, into the minds of perpetrators, the stories of victims and the unanswered questions that linger. While the content is not graphic, listener discretion is advised. For more stories related to the crimes covered here, visit The Korea Herald website: www. koreaherald.com.
Episodes
- True Crime
The girl who wasn't her mother's
In 2021, a 3-year-old girl was found dead inside a home in Gumi, South Korea. She had been dead for so long that her body was described as “mummified.” At…
- True Crime
Rise of a drug kingpin behind bars
Park Wang-yeol left South Korea a failed businessperson and a man accused of fraud. When he was repatriated to South Korea in March 2026, several police…
- True Crime
Killed, then branded a spy
In January 1987, the South Korean Embassy in Singapore received a call from the US Embassy about a suspicious asylum seeker, a 28-year-old Korean named Yun…
- True Crime
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…
- True Crime
The downfall of a dictator’s spy chief
"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…
- True Crime
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…
- True Crime
Monster side of 'Molar Daddy'
Lee Young-hak was once the darling of South Korea. The public gave him the nickname "Molar Daddy" after the rare disease, known as gigantiform cementoma, that…
- True Crime
Killing in the name of love
Countless murders have occurred in this world. Some driven by rage, others by revenge or by money. But what if someone kills without hatred, without greed…
- True Crime
He killed his parents. They killed his soul
In May 2000, in South Korea, a young man from what appeared to be an ordinary, middle-class family murdered both of his parents. He was 23, enrolled at one of…
- True Crime
Mashimaro: The Wrong Clue
For nearly 20 years, one detail defined two notorious murder cases in Seoul’s Sinjeong-dong — a sticker of a cute bunny character called Mashimaro. It shaped…
- True Crime
Phantom of the high-rise
In South Korea, one of the most closely watched societies in the world, almost every murder is solved. Almost. Fifteen years ago, in a secure high-rise outside…
- True Crime
Marrying to kill
In the early summer of 2019, a husband joined his wife and several of her friends on a trip to a valley in Gapyeong, South Korea. What should have been a…
- True Crime
On the cross
An abandoned quarry. A man, nailed to a cross. Around Easter 2011, a grotesque death shocked South Korea. Could this be the act of an eccentric cult? As…
- True Crime
The forgotten killer
Why do some killers become household names, while others fade into obscurity — despite committing crimes just as horrifying? In this episode, we uncover the…
- True Crime
The shortcut
On a chilly Wednesday evening in November 2003, 14-year-old Eom Hyun-ah set out on a familiar shortcut home through the quiet outskirts of a village in South…
- True Crime
Frog Boys mystery
In the early 1990s, five young boys set out on a forest excursion and never came home. Their sudden disappearance sent shockwaves across South Korea. Their…
- True Crime
Killer behind the lens
Have you ever imagined what it would be like to glimpse someone’s final moments, before life slips away? It’s a disturbing thought, but death makes headlines…