TRUE CRIME DOCUMENTARY: They Buried Her, Dug Her Up, and Buried Her Again
The Korean Concrete Girl Case: A Tragedy of Youth, Exploitation, and Brutality
In November 1988, the abduction, torture, and murder of Japanese high school girl Junko Furuta by four teenage boys sent shockwaves across the world. The cruelty was unfathomable—she was held captive for 44 days, subjected to unimaginable abuse, and her body was eventually discovered encased in a concrete drum. The case became a grim benchmark for juvenile depravity.
Years later and across the sea, South Korea experienced its own horrifying parallel. In 2014, a 15-year-old girl named Yoon fell into the hands of predators who subjected her to weeks of torture before killing her and burying her body under concrete. The case, involving teenage girls who conspired with men in their twenties, horrified the nation and sparked a fierce debate about the efficacy of the juvenile justice system. Were lenient sentences emboldening young offenders to commit heinous crimes?
This is the story of the Korean Concrete Girl case—a dark tale of manipulation, cruelty, and the systemic failures that allowed it to happen. Viewer discretion is highly advised.
The Disappearance of Yoon
On March 15, 2014, a 15-year-old girl, identified only by her surname Yoon, abruptly ran away from home. She had just entered high school and was still adjusting to a new environment. During this vulnerable time, she met a 24-year-old man named Kim through a smartphone messenger service. Kim messaged her frequently and soon proposed they start dating. Yoon, naive and trusting, accepted.
Through Kim, Yoon was introduced to three girls her age—surnamed Ha, Yang, and Jeong—along with a 16-year-old girl surnamed Young. The group of teenage girls began hanging out with Kim and his friends, who were also in their twenties: a 24-year-old named Lee, another man surnamed Ha, and a 25-year-old also surnamed Lee.
On that fateful day in March, Yoon ran away from home with Kim and stayed at a motel in Busan. It was at this moment that Kim and his friends revealed their true intentions. They began forcing Yoon into prostitution, connecting her with men through online chats and using the money she earned for their own living expenses and entertainment. Intimidated and terrified, Yoon had no choice but to comply.
A Brief Return Home
When Yoon failed to return home, her father reported her missing to the police. Fearing they would be discovered, Kim and his friends briefly allowed Yoon to return home, urging her not to tell anyone about the prostitution they had forced upon her.
When Yoon returned home after 14 days, her father was struck by her haggard appearance. She broke down in tears and confessed everything: “These older guys forced me into prostitution. They locked me up and gave me only one meal a day. They told me they would come and take me away if I told anyone what happened.”
Her father tried to persuade her to go to the police, but she stopped him, frightened by the threats. The next day, a Sunday, Yoon and her father, both devout Christians, attended separate worship services at their church. When the services ended around noon, Yoon’s father realized his daughter was missing.
He immediately went to the police station, reporting: “My daughter has disappeared. When she ran away from home, some guys and teens her age forced her into prostitution.” The police reformed their search team to look for Yoon, but during the 20 days that followed, she endured unimaginable torture.
20 Days of Unimaginable Horror
During the time the police searched for her, Yoon was dragged around by Kim and his friends and subjected to a campaign of relentless abuse.
Forced Prostitution: The group once again forced Yoon into prostitution, making her sell her body between four to eight times a day to various men.
The Beatings Begin: On April 4, at a motel in Ulsan, the group discovered that Yoon had logged into her Facebook account at 10:30 PM. Fearful that their location had been exposed, they began punching and kicking her.
Forced Drinking: They poured two bottles of Soju into a bowl and forced Yoon to drink it all at once. When she threw up, they made her lick up her vomit and eat it.
Organized Fighting: Three of the men made the four teenage girls fight Yoon one by one, promising her freedom if she could win.
Extreme Violence: The oldest of the men, 25-year-old Lee, forced Yoon to bend her head back and powerfully struck her larynx multiple times with the edge of his hand. He also used an electric fan to strike her torso repeatedly. The girls joined in, throwing furniture at her.
Boiling Water: When Yoon pleaded for water to soothe her aching body, one of the assailants boiled water in a pot and poured it over her arms and legs. She sustained severe burns, and her skin began to peel.
Humiliation and Exhaustion: Whenever she said “I want to go home,” she was beaten. They made her stand up and sit down over 100 times. In her semi-conscious state, she was forced to recite multiplication tables; when she failed to respond, she was hit again.
By April 9, Yoon was in a serious condition, unable to even eat.
The Final Night
At 10 PM on April 9, three of the men and one of the girl assailants, Young, took Yoon for a car ride. They stopped near an industrial complex in the Dalseong District of Daegu to play a game of omok (a Korean board game). The loser had to beat Yoon, who was balled up on the floor of the back seat.
During the ride, they taunted Yoon with a cruel question: “If you die, who would you like to take with you?” Yoon chose 25-year-old Lee. Enraged, Lee punched her and beat her with his heels. She then chose the girl, Young. Upon hearing this, Young grabbed a piece of pavement and struck Yoon with it.
The next day, on April 10, in the back seat of a car parked near a hotel in Daegu, Yoon suffered a sudden cardiac arrest from her extensive injuries. She took her last breath.
Concealing the Crime
When the group realized Yoon was dead, they panicked. To avoid detection, they drove the car to Changnyeong County in South Gyeongsang Province. They parked along a random street, poured gasoline all over Yoon’s face, and set it ablaze. Their goal was to make her face unrecognizable, hoping to delay any investigation.
On April 11, at 2 AM, two of the men and a female accomplice drove to an orchard in Changnyeong County to dump Yoon’s body. They dug a hole using a shovel and pickaxe and pushed her burned body inside, covering it with dirt.
However, they grew worried about the burial site. Three days later, on April 14, they returned, dug up the body, and moved it to a hill near the Juan Bridge in Changnyeong County. They reburied Yoon and poured cement over her body before covering it with dirt, rocks, and grass to better conceal the grave.
A Second Murder
Shockingly, just a few days later, the group traveled to Daejeon and committed another murder. On April 19, the men met a 47-year-old man, also surnamed Kim, through a chatting app. They forced the 16-year-old girl, Young, to have sex with him for money. They lured him to a motel in the Bongmyeong-dong area and threatened him: “We will tell people you had sexual relations with a minor.” Their intent was to extort money from him.
When the man realized it was a scam and tried to escape, they beat him in front of the motel. They forced him into a car to get more money, continuing the assault. One of the men, surnamed Ha, grabbed a large plastic flower pot weighing around 20 kilograms and struck the victim’s head with it. Even after he lost consciousness, they kept kicking his head.
Eventually, they moved him to the back seat and fled. Over the next three hours, they continued beating him, using lighters and cigarettes to burn his sides in an attempt to force him to reveal his credit card passcode. The victim eventually died of his injuries. The group abandoned the car with his body inside and fled.
Arrest and the Investigation
Three days later, the group was caught by police due to the Daejeon murder case. Three of the men—Lee, Ha, and the second Lee—were arrested and sent to the Daejeon Detention Center.
Meanwhile, police investigating Yoon’s disappearance discovered her connection to Kim based on phone records. They arrested Kim and soon realized that his group was already behind bars for the Daejeon murder. When police questioned the teenage girls who had testified as witnesses in Daejeon regarding the prostitution, they denied any knowledge of Yoon’s whereabouts, saying: “We don’t know anything.”
However, guilt began to surface. One of the girls who returned home confessed to a friend: “I killed Yoon, and we secretly buried her body.” That friend, recognizing the gravity of the confession, reported it to the police, leading to the discovery of Yoon’s remains.
A detective with the Gimhae Police Station, involved in the investigation, stated that he had never seen such heinous crimes involving young students. Out of respect for the father, the detective withheld the full gruesome details of his daughter’s death.
The Trials and Sentencing
The courts conducted two separate trials: one in Daegu for Yoon’s murder and another in Daejeon for the subsequent burglary and murder.
The Daegu Trial (Yoon’s Assault and Murder):
On November 11, 2014, the Daegu District Court handed down sentences to the three teenage girls involved in Yoon’s assault and death:
Young received a sentence of 6 to 9 years.
Ha and Jeong received sentences of 6 to 8 years.
Under the Korean Juvenile Act, when a juvenile is sentenced to two or more years, the court specifies a maximum and minimum term. The offender must serve the minimum term but may be released on parole afterward.
The accused girls claimed they were forced to commit these acts by the men. The judge acknowledged that the female students were both assailants and victims but convicted them for failing to stop Yoon’s death, despite knowing she could die.
Kim, the first man to meet Yoon on the chat app, received 5 years for luring a minor into prostitution and aiding the abandonment of a dead body. However, during an appeals trial in April 2015, Ha and Jeong received reduced sentences after the court considered their difficult backgrounds, lack of social support, and expressions of remorse. Kim’s sentence was also reduced to 3 years.
The Daejeon Trial (The Second Murder):
On February 13, 2015, the Daejeon District Court identified two of the men, Lee and Ha, as the principal offenders in Yoon’s assault and sentenced them to life in prison. The other Lee received 35 years. All three appealed, claiming they lacked the intent to kill, suffered from impulse control disorders, and were under the influence of alcohol. However, the Daejeon High Court dismissed their appeals on July 24.
A Nation’s Shame and a Call for Protection
This brutal case involving teenagers and young adults shocked the nation. It highlighted a disturbing reality: young girls who run away from home are often quickly drawn into the dangerous world of prostitution and exploitation.
Yoon’s classmates described her as shy, quiet, and naive—a vulnerable teenager who became an easy target. The accused girls themselves were runaways who had likely been subjected to similar exploitation.
The case raised serious questions about the juvenile justice system. Were the sentences too lenient? Did the system fail to deter young offenders from committing such horrific acts?
Ultimately, the tragedy of Yoon’s death serves as a stark reminder of the importance of social safeguards to protect the youth. It underscores the need to address the root causes of juvenile delinquency, provide better support for runaways, and ensure that the justice system serves not only to punish but to protect.
The memory of this case continues to haunt South Korea, a grim testament to how manipulation, violence, and apathy can destroy a young life.
