'Frog Boys' case shows how staffing shortfalls hinder cold cases despite forensic advances
Published: 26 Nov. 2025, 17:20
![A poster made in 1992 for the Frog Boys missing-person case hangs on the wall of the office of the National Missing Children Search Citizens’ Coalition (translated) in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov. 25 [LEE AH-MI]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/26/97c15f37-b8bb-463c-879d-b3a99fb81345.jpg)
A poster made in 1992 for the Frog Boys missing-person case hangs on the wall of the office of the National Missing Children Search Citizens’ Coalition (translated) in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov. 25 [LEE AH-MI]
Despite a rare breakthrough in another decades-old cold case last week, the father of one of the Frog Boys says time has done little to ease the grief or to bring his son’s killer any closer to justice.
Woo Jong-woo, the father of Woo Cheol-won — one of the victims in the so-called “Frog Boys” case — let out a long sigh during a phone interview with the JoongAng Ilbo on Monday. Woo had just heard that police last Friday had finally identified a suspect in the Sinjeong-dong murder case, which had remained unsolved for 20 years.
The case was another example of how advances in forensic science have allowed investigators to uncover the truth behind cold cases once thought impossible to solve. Yet Woo sounded unconvinced. He said he was “exhausted by the lack of progress in the police investigation and by the snide public perception that the boys somehow died because of their own wrongdoing.”
The Frog Boys case, one of the country’s most widely known long-term cold cases, occurred on March 26, 1991, a temporary holiday. Five elementary school boys went missing after heading up Mount Waryong in Daegu to collect salamander eggs. Their remains were discovered 11 years later on a hillside about two kilometers (1.24 miles) from where they disappeared. The case was later adapted into the film “Children...” (2011).
For 11 years after their sons vanished, the five fathers, including Woo, traversed the country in a truck, handing out missing-person flyers. They continued to demand a full investigation, filed lawsuits and called for improvements to laws and investigative systems. Over the 34 years that have passed, the fathers of three of the boys — Kim Jong-sik, Kim Young-gyu and Park Chan-in — have died.
A reinvestigation launched by police in 2019 remains stalled. “Neither the National Forensic Service’s reanalysis of evidence nor some 100 civilian tips yielded anything that could identify a suspect,’ said a Daegu Metropolitan Police Agency official. “We have four cabinet drawers of investigative records, but because the remains were found so late, the initial evidence collection consisted only of bones, soil and a plastic bag. We plan to continue requesting reanalysis at regular intervals.”
![Na Ju-bong, head of the National Missing Children Search Citizens’ Coalition (translated), organizes missing-person posters, suspect flyers and tip letters related to the Frog Boys case at the group’s office in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov. 25. [LEE AH-MI]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/26/2f87ba17-86e1-466f-b3e4-65e71cbb86bc.jpg)
Na Ju-bong, head of the National Missing Children Search Citizens’ Coalition (translated), organizes missing-person posters, suspect flyers and tip letters related to the Frog Boys case at the group’s office in Dongdaemun District, eastern Seoul, on Nov. 25. [LEE AH-MI]
As breakthroughs like the Sinjeong-dong case raise hopes that scientific advances may unlock answers to other long-unsolved cases, some warn that such expectations may amount to little more than “false hope.” Consistent staffing and sustained public interest, critics say, are essential.
For cold cases like the Frog Boys case — where initial evidence and witness statements were severely lacking — advances in forensic technology are often the only avenue left. The Hwaseong serial murders, long mired in speculation, were also solved 33 years after the crimes occurred, thanks to improved DNA analysis that identified Lee Chun-jae as the perpetrator in 2019.
“With increasingly sophisticated DNA amplification technologies and the ability to identify suspects even from partial fingerprints, gaps that once hampered investigations are being filled,” Lee Woong-hyuk, a professor of police studies at Konkuk University.
But experts caution that police cannot simply wait for technology to advance. They say bolstering investigative staffing is essential. After the 2015 enforcement of the “Tae-wan Act,” which abolished the statute of limitations for homicide cases committed after 2000, police created dedicated cold-case teams. But because most are technically part of detective squads and handle cold cases only concurrently, critics say the system remains ineffective.
![A campaign to find the missing Frog Boys held on March 22, 1992. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/11/26/b122363d-2efd-4890-a8c1-d6a6d0424ed9.jpg)
A campaign to find the missing Frog Boys held on March 22, 1992. [YONHAP]
According to the National Police Agency on Monday, police are currently investigating 275 long-term unsolved murder cases, and the total number of unsolved cases overall continues to rise each year. Yet only 74 officers are assigned to cold-case murder investigations across all provincial police agencies.
In addition, according to the office of Rep. Han Byung-do of the liberal Democratic Party, the number of police cold cases registered for more than 10 years — including minor offenses — rose from 2.53 million in 2023 to 2.76 million in 2024, and to 2.89 million as of August this year. The police’s investigative burden has also increased due to adjustments in investigative authority between prosecutors and police.
“There needs to be a dedicated team that handles cold cases exclusively on an ongoing basis,” said Kim Young-sik, a professor of Police Administration at Soonchunhyang University. “If provincial agencies lack the capacity, such teams should be created at the regional or national investigation headquarters level."
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY LEE AH-MI [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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