The Hwaseong Serial Murders

The murders which remained unsolved for thirty years

I recently watched a 2003 South Korean neo-noir crime thriller directed by Bong Joon Ho titled "Memories of Murder" (Korean: 살인의 추억). This film, inspired by Kim Kwang-lim's 1996 play "Come to See Me," is based on real-life murders committed by Lee Chun-jae, which were unsolved at the time. The film's development was confirmed in September 2002 after CJ Entertainment acquired the rights to Kim's play, which is loosely based on South Korea's first confirmed serial murders.

The story begins in October 1986, when two women are discovered raped and murdered on the outskirts of a small town. Local detective Park Doo-man, inexperienced with such grave cases, feels overwhelmed. Evidence is mishandled, investigative methods are dubious, and modern forensic technology is nearly absent. Seo Tae-yoon, a detective from Seoul with more scientific crime scene expertise, volunteers to help. However, his approach conflicts with Park's. The film concludes in 2003, with the crimes still unsolved.

The Hwaseong serial murders were perpetrated by Lee Chun-jae (born January 31, 1963). From 1986 to 1994, Lee murdered fifteen women and girls and committed numerous sexual assaults, mainly in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, and nearby areas. These murders, unsolved for thirty years, are considered the most notorious in modern South Korean history.

Lee was sentenced to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole after twenty years for killing his sister-in-law in 1994. Despite DNA evidence and his 2019 confession to the other murders, he couldn't be prosecuted due to the statute of limitations.

Lee Chun-jae was born in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, on January 31, 1963. His mother described him as well-educated and cooperative. Lee's younger brother drowned during childhood, a traumatic event for him.

After high school graduation in February 1983, Lee joined the Republic of Korea Army, serving as a tank driver until January 1986. In 1990, he worked for a construction company as an unlicensed crane operator in Seoul's Cheongpa-dong neighborhood. The following year, he became a crane operator for a company in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, leaving in March 1993. In April 1992, Lee married an administrator and had a son. However, he was a violent alcoholic who frequently abused his family.

On September 26, 1989, Lee broke into a house in Suwon and was caught by the landlord. In February 1990, the Suwon District Court sentenced him to one year and six months for robbery and assault. Lee appealed, claiming he was chased by an unknown man and entered the house. In the second trial, his sentence was suspended to two years' probation, and he was released in April 1990.

Between September 15, 1986, and April 3, 1991, Lee carried out a series of rapes and murders in the vicinity of Hwaseong, a city located in Gyeonggi Province, South Korea, recognized for its extensive agricultural region. The victims were found bound, gagged, raped, and mostly strangled with their clothes, like pantyhose or socks. This sparked the largest criminal case in South Korean history, with over 2 million man-days spent on investigation and over 21,000 suspects questioned. The murders remained unsolved for thirty years until Lee was identified as a suspect in 2019. He confessed to four undisclosed murders not initially included in the original list and all ten serial murders, including a case previously deemed a copycat crime (for which Yoon Sung-yeo had been sentenced to life imprisonment).

Wrongly convicted Yoon Sung-yeo

On September 13, 1986, Lee Wan-im (71) vanished while returning home after visiting her daughter. Her body was discovered in a pasture on September 19, four days after her murder. A month later, on October 20, Park Hyun-sook (25) disappeared after getting off a bus while returning home from Songtan. Her body was found on October 23 in a canal. Two months later, on December 12, Kwon Jung-bon (25) disappeared in front of her house. Her body was found four months later on April 23, 1987, on an embankment. Seven more murders followed in the subsequent years. The last murder occurred around 9:00 PM on April 3, 1991. Kwon Soon-sang (69) was found raped and strangled with pantyhose on a hill.

After his wife left in December 1993, Lee invited his eighteen-year-old sister-in-law to his home, where he drugged, raped, and killed her on January 13, 1994. According to the original investigator, Lee offered to help his father-in-law search for the missing girl, suggesting she might have been abducted. Lee was arrested on January 18 after repeated questioning, during which he asked, "How many years do you serve in prison for rape and murder?" Lee denied responsibility, and the court overturned his confession, citing police coercion. However, he was convicted and sentenced to death in May 1994, a sentence upheld in September that year. The Supreme Court of Korea reviewed the case in 1995, reducing Lee's death sentence to life imprisonment, with parole possible after twenty years.

The first five murders occurred within a 3.7-mile radius of Hwaseong, prompting police to deploy in teams of two every 328 feet. However, the subsequent killing occurred where they were not present. Rumors spread that the killer targeted women wearing red on rainy days, leading some female officers to wear red to trap the killer.

A suspect sketch was created from the memory of a bus driver and bus conductor who saw a man board their bus after the seventh murder on September 7, 1988. The suspect's features, described by the bus driver, matched those given by survivors of sexual assaults. Survivors described the perpetrator as a thin-framed man in his mid-twenties, 5' 6" to 5' 7", with short sporty hair, no double eyelids, and a sharp nose. He was also noted for having soft hands. Lee Geum-ran (36), a survivor, described him as skinny with a low voice after he attacked her in late 1986.

On July 27, 1989, Yoon Sung-yeo (22) was arrested for the murder of the eighth victim, fourteen-year-old Park Sang-hee. Yoon confessed during questioning, and a 1989 National Forensic Service report indicated a 40% match of pubic hair samples with Yoon's. This case was later deemed a copycat crime, and Yoon was sentenced to life imprisonment. Reports indicate that at least four potential suspects committed suicide in the 1990s after police investigation and alleged abuse.

On September 18, 2019, police announced Lee's identification as a suspect in the Hwaseong serial murders. He was identified after DNA from a victim's underwear matched his, and further DNA testing linked him to four other unsolved murders. At the time, Lee was serving a life sentence in Busan for his sister-in-law's rape and murder. Initially denying involvement, he confessed on October 2 to killing fourteen people, including all ten victims in the original investigation, a case previously considered a copycat crime, and four others. Two of these additional murders occurred in Hwaseong but weren't previously linked to Lee, while two were in Cheongju. Lee also confessed to over thirty rapes and attempted rapes.

Police noted Lee's low self-esteem due to his introverted nature, but he felt a sense of achievement and independence during his military service. This led him to commit sex crimes to express frustration from his monotonous post-discharge life. The provincial police chief described Lee as displaying psychopathic tendencies, lacking empathy for victims' suffering, and boasting about his crimes.

On July 2, 2020, police confirmed Lee's involvement in fourteen murders and nine rapes related to the Hwaseong serial murders, motivated by sexual desire, closing the case thirty-three years after the first killing. On November 2, 2020, Lee testified in court for the eighth murder retrial, publicly confessing to fourteen murders related to the Hwaseong serial murders and thirty sex crimes, resulting in Yoon's acquittal.