Summary: Disclaimer: Zach and Willy were planning on talking about the Frog Boys in an episode of MysteriYES and by no means did they ask me to guest and talk about it because of my ethnicity. Me being Korean-American does not make me an expert or give me extra insight; I know as much as the internet has told me. On March 26, 1991, five boys (U Cheol-won (aged 13) Jo Ho-yeon (aged 12) Kim Yeong-gyu (aged 11) Park Chan-in (aged 10) Kim Jong-sik (aged 9)) between the ages of 9-13 were exploring a mountain near where they lived (Daegu, South Korea) to search for frogs. Growing up in that area, they were very familiar with the mountain that they were exploring (Mount Waryong) and it was fairly typical for kids in that area to be out all day playing. Nothing was too significant about that day other than the fact that it was a national holiday because of the 1991 local elections, so people didn’t have work and kids didn’t have school. It being the early 1990s and seeing as their town was surrounded by mountains, it is not much of a surprise that they took advantage of the holiday to go on an outdoor adventure to capture frogs or salamanders. Later that day, the parents reported the boys missing after they didn’t come home and a large-scale search quickly erupted. What started out with just townspeople and local police became a nation-wide search as over 300,000 policemen were ordered by President Roh Tae-woo to search for the boys but millions of flyers were distributed as well. A reward of 42 million won ($35,000) was accumulated by donations from companies, groups and individuals and was offered to whoever could locate the boys. Along with that, a local elementary school started a “Find the Frog Children Campaign” and milk cartons started to have photographs with the boys pictured on them. Despite a practically nation-wide search and Waryong Mountain being searched over 500 times, there was no luck for years in finding any trace of the boys. There were over 550 false leads reported to authorities but most of them lead nowhere. One day, however, the police received a call. A man claimed that he had abducted the Frog Boys. He said that they were malnourished and in danger of dying and demanded a ransom in exchange for the boys. And while this explanation seemed like an answer to the mystery, after further investigation it was found that the man was lying about abducting the children. There is not a lot a great amount of detail about this man and why he lied about this. I can’t imagine wanting to a) take responsibility for such a crime and b) getting the parents’ hopes up of having their children returned. I don’t know what could have been gained from this false lead but if anything, it makes the case that much more frustrating. During the investigation, many theories arose as people searched for the answers. Kidnappings by various groups including both North Korea and South Korean “authorities” were not out of the questions. Some people didn’t write off the chance of an alien abduction, and some even went as far to accuse the parents of killing and burying their sons. This may be one of the more absurd explanations for the case, but the movie Children… (2011) explores this theory more as the film is based off of the missing Frog Boys. Over eleven years after the initial disappearance of the Frog Boys, they were finally found. On September 26th, 2002, a man in the foothills of Waryong Mountain searching for acorns came across shoes and clothing. He called the police via an anonymous phone call and upon searching the area, the five Frog Boys were found dead in a shallow pit. The bodies were lying in a gully and eventually water exposed their remains. The initial investigation lead to the police coming forth with the statement that the boys had died of hypothermia. The day they went missing was cold and rainy, and when the bodies were found, they were closely huddled together, possibly for warmth. The police ruled out a possibility
