The Hwaseong Serial Murders

Between 1986 and 1991, a series of rapes and murders in the rural area of Hwaseong, South Korea, killed at least ten women and girls and left the country gripped with fear. Despite one of the largest investigations in South Korean history, the killer was never identified at the time, and the case inspired the acclaimed film "Memories of Murder."

A wrongful conviction

During the original investigation, a man was wrongfully convicted of one of the murders after what police later admitted was a coerced confession; he served 20 years in prison before his release in 2008.

Solved after 33 years

In 2019, advances in DNA testing technology allowed investigators to match crime-scene evidence to Lee Choon-jae, who was already serving a life sentence for a separate 1994 murder. Lee confessed to the Hwaseong killings in detail.

Current status

Because the statute of limitations on the Hwaseong murders had expired, Lee could not be formally prosecuted for them. Police publicly apologized to the victims' families and to the man wrongfully imprisoned for one of the killings. Lee remains in prison for his other conviction.