This article is by Cho Jung-woo and read by an artificial voice.



[KOREAN CRIME FILES #3]

Behind the glitz and glamour seen in pop culture, Korea's grimmest and most harrowing crime stories, some more well-known than others, continue to haunt society today. The Korea JoongAng Daily takes a deep dive into some of these stories, sharing a glimpse into the darker side of society as well as the most up-to-date known facts. - Ed.

"We found the body of your father," a police officer told a man at an apartment building in Gwacheon, Gyeonggi, on May 24, 2000.

The 24-year-old son showed no signs of panic or distress. "My parents left for church three days ago, and I haven't been able to reach them," he said calmly. He had been planning to contact his older brother, he said, and report them missing to the police.

His reaction, however, made more sense once the truth emerged - that he was the one who had killed them.

What initially appeared to be a cold-blooded and inexplicable crime was cast in a different light when details emerged about his alleged motive: years of physical and emotional abuse at the hands of his parents. The brutality of the crime horrified many, but some saw Lee Eun-seok as a tragic figure - and even a scapegoat. The case prompted not only psychological analyses of his actions, but also wider conversations about family violence, trauma and the long-lasting effects of abuse in Korean society.



Two victims, 11 locations

He opened one of the plastic bags - only to find a human ankle. The weather had been clear and dry for several days, allowing the body part to remain relatively well-preserved.

The man called the police, who discovered a total of eight body parts: five belonging to a man and three from a woman. They initiated a wider search and eventually found fragments of both individuals in 11 different locations. Fingerprint analysis confirmed that the victims were a married couple: a 60-year-old man, surnamed Lee, and his 50-year-old wife, surnamed Hwang, who lived in an apartment near the park.

No missing person reports had been filed.

Police traced the address to the couple's home, where they found the couple's youngest son, Lee Eun-seok. Lee had been living with his parents after completing his mandatory military service. Although he had previously been enrolled at Korea University, he did not return to school after finishing his enlistment.



Police brought Lee in for questioning. At first, he denied everything. "I don't know," he told them repeatedly.

But when a security guard from the neighborhood testified that he had seen Lee leaving the apartment carrying plastic trash bags, and police presented him with a hammer and saw bearing his parents' blood, Lee confessed.

Spinning the narrative

Six days before the murder took place, Lee had quarreled with his mother, then locked himself in his room. His only sibling, an older brother, was living separately in Seoul at the time.

He emerged on May 21 around 3 a.m. He had a drink alone. He walked into his mother's bedroom and struck her head with a hammer while she was sleeping.

He sat next to her body in silence for four hours, staring into space. He entered the separate room where his father was sleeping and struck him three times in the head with the same hammer.

Then, Lee panicked. He took a saw and began dismembering the two bodies in the bathroom, wrapping each part in multiple layers of plastic bags. Some of the parts he placed in shopping bags and disposed of in trash bins at subway stations. He disposed of the other parts in places around the capital and Gwacheon, including a hotel dumpster in central Seoul's Myeong-dong. He scrubbed the entire apartment with detergent in an effort to hide the evidence.



But it wasn't enough to fool forensic investigators. Bloodstains were discovered in the living room and bathroom. Lee's fingerprints were found on the trash bags used to discard his parents' remains.

When asked why he did it, Lee said he'd never thought of...