Frog Boys Killed with Weapons

The forensic team of Kyungbook University has concluded that the "Frog Boys" were murdered. 11 years ago, a group of boys then living in Daegoo embarked on a search for frogs, and recently found in the form of skeletons at Mt. Woryung in the Daegoo City.

The forensic team has conducted a probe to figure out the cause of death for the boys, and made public their 1st report thereon on Nov. 12th at the medical school of the university.

▽ Opinions of experts = Professor Chae Jong-min on the team said, "We have examined the skeletons of the boys very carefully. As a result, we have discovered that three skulls of the boys including that of Woo Chul-won (13 at that time) bear the signs of subsidence and some 10 marks of hacking by a sharp tool thereon. These signs and marks strongly indicate that heavy impacts were rendered onto the Frog Boys prior to their deaths."

He added, "We had consulted other forensic experts, in and outside Korea, as to the marks and signs on the skulls. Then, we became confident that the boys were murdered. Their skulls were damaged severely. Therefore, they would have probably died of the internal bleeding within the skull."

The forensic team has also found the arm bone of Kim Jong-shik (then 9), one of the Frog Boys, fractured. The team believes that the fracture occurred while Kim was trying to defend himself by blocking a beating with the arm.

Further, professor Chae explained that the skeletons were laid in very unnatural positions, which also indicates that the boys were killed.

▽ Police investigation = Once the forensic team has determined that the boys were murdered, a new investigation into this case will be made from the start, says the police.

Now, the police believe that someone killed the boys somewhere else, and then the killer moved and buried the boys in the mountain. Thus, the future probe of the police will be focused on finding the motive and the process of the killing.

The police pay a special attention to the possibility raised by the team that an insane or mad person might have used a sharp screwdriver or a tool like it in killing the boys. Thus, the authorities will conduct a probe into that possibility as well.

In addition, the residents around Mt. Woryong testified that hunters frequented the mountain area at around the time the boys reportedly got lost. Hence, the police do not exclude another possibility that the boys were killed by a hunter who mistook them for animals. So, the police will question about 120 residents in that area who own air-guns.

▽ Response of the families = Once the forensic team announced its conclusion that the Frog Boys had been murdered, the families accepted the result that they have argued for over a long period of time. They got angry and said, "The police got off to a wrong start to begin with. They concluded that our boys were just missing. They were wrong, and the report proves that."

Kim Hyun-do, father of a Frog Boy, Kim Young-gyu, said, "Now, everyone knows that our boys were murdered. The authorities should conduct a thorough investigation and arrest the criminal."

Yong-Kyun Jeong cavatina@donga.com