26 Years Since Disappearance of 2 Elementary Students in Gangjin, 12-Hour Confrontation with Suspect Mr. Ma
On the 17th, the SBS program "Unanswered Questions" will feature a 12-hour confrontation with a primary suspect in a serial disappearance case involving elementary school students that has remained unsolved for 26 years. The episode investigates the disappearance of two young girls in Gangjin and the suspicious history of Mr. Ma, who previously confessed to the crimes before recanting.
The King of Radiant Kingdom and the Vanished Children
- The Gangjin Elementary Student Serial Disappearance Case
On the 17th, "Unanswered Questions" will meet a primary suspect in a serial disappearance case of elementary students that has remained unsolved for 26 years, engaging in a battle for the truth.
Vanishing without a trace, serial disappearance of elementary students
On June 15, 2000, in Gangjin, Jeollanam-do, 2nd-grade elementary student Kim Seong-ju, who was waiting for her older brother after school, disappeared without a trace. One year later, on June 1, 2001, 1st-grade student Kim Ha-eun, who was walking home from school just 1km away, also did not return home. It was a serial disappearance that occurred within one year in a small city with a population of 18,000.
As low-grade elementary school girls who were alone on their way home disappeared, human trafficking and kidnapping were suspected, but the perpetrator did not make any contact demanding ransom or making threats. Twenty-six years have passed since then, and the whereabouts or even the life status of the children remain unconfirmed; where are they now?
The primary suspect and the video tape
Police identified Mr. Ma, who was in his early 20s and lived nearby, as a primary suspect. While undergoing prosecution investigation for another child sex crime case in 2010, Mr. Ma had confessed to murdering and disposing of the two missing children. He even accompanied the investigation for a field inspection, but for some reason, he was not arrested as a suspect.
“Of all the criminals I know,
I think he is the luckiest criminal.”
- An investigating police officer at the time
Mr. Ma suddenly recanted his confession and denied any connection to the serial disappearance case. Furthermore, Mr. Ma's ex-wife testified that she saw a video tape containing sexual exploitation footage of a child presumed to be Ha-eun. However, as the video tape was never found, Mr. Ma smoothly slipped through the investigation.
The bizarre coded messages of the King of Radiant Kingdom
Mr. Ma, who killed his wife's younger brother one year after Ha-eun's disappearance and served 15 years in prison, and was sentenced to 8 years for sexually assaulting a woman with an intellectual disability the year after his release, was released this September. The production team held three sessions of conversation with him over 12 hours, including his first formal interview.
“Even if I really did that, it wouldn't remain.
I would have destroyed everything out of fear.”
Calling himself the king of a fictional country called "Radiant Kingdom," Mr. Ma hid perverse pedophilic messages within bizarre coded messages. While there are many suspicious circumstances pointing to him as a suspect in the serial disappearance case, he showed confidence by asking if there was any direct evidence. What kind of person is Mr. Ma, and is he truly unrelated to the serial disappearances? What will be the conclusion of the 12-hour psychological warfare and truth game with Mr. Ma?
This week's SBS "Unanswered Questions" will be broadcast on the 17th (Sat) at 11:10 PM.
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Covers K-pop for SPECIALTIMES GLOBAL, and also writes Culture and K-Variety stories.
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