Parents cast doubt on police suggestion, say boys were killed

Social Affairs

Published: 06 Jan. 2003, 00:18

Parents cast doubt on police suggestion, say boys were killed

DAEGU -- As the Daegu police repeated their suggestion that hypothermia may have been the cause of death, families of the five "frog boys" are becoming increasingly agitated.

The boys, aged 9 to 13, were last seen around 2 p.m. on March 26, 1991. They left that morning saying they were going to catch frogs. Their remains were discovered Thursday in a 2-meter-deep crack in the foothills of Mount Waryong. There appeared to be no sign of struggle, the police said.

The Daegu police said Friday that the search for the boys over 11 years ago had been concentrated around ponds and streams, and not where the remains were discovered.

That is nonsense to Kim Hyeon-do, the father of Kim Yeong-gyu, one of the boys. "I was on the police chopper the next day over Mount Waryong," Mr. Kim said Friday.

Mr. Kim rejected the idea that the search team could have missed the boys if they had actually been in the area. He said police helicopters were flying over the mountain for five days, looking over every inch of the area.

Families of the boys suggested that they were moved to the area after being killed. They also raised the possibility that the boys may have been hit by stray bullets from an army shooting range located nearby. The army operated a firing range about 400 meters from where the boys' remains were found through the mid-'90s. The Daegu police said three pieces of corroded metallic objects were discovered close by and had been sent to a forensics lab for testing.

The police said the boys may have suffered hypothermia after losing their way. The high temperature that day was 12 degrees centigrade, but an evening rain shower dropped the temperature to 3 degrees. The family members doubt that scenario, saying the boys were healthy and familiar with the mountain trails.

The authorities found more remains Friday. Nothing to suggest homicide has been found so far, the police said. DNA testing by the National Institute of Scientific Investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of death.

The Daegu police is also following a lead from a local newspaper that said it had received a telephone call the day before the remains were found from someone who said the boys were buried at Mount Waryong.

by Hong Gweon-sam