The body of an 11-year-old boy who went missing from a national park in South Korea’s North Gyeongsang province has been found, authorities have confirmed. Police believe he died after falling from the peak of a mountain in Juwangsan National Park.
The boy, a sixth-grade student, had travelled with his parents from their home in Daegu on 10 May to visit Daejeonsa, a Buddhist temple inside the park. At around midday, he reportedly told his parents he wanted to climb further up the mountain and set off alone towards the summit, without carrying a phone.
His body was discovered approximately 100 metres from the peak, following a three-day search operation involving more than 350 people. The hiking route from Daejeonsa to the summit, which rises to 720 metres, is between 2 and 3 kilometres and typically takes an adult around 80 minutes each way.
When the boy failed to return, his parents alerted local authorities and reported him missing later that day. He was reportedly wearing a Samsung Lions baseball uniform when he went up the mountain.
Speaking to a local news outlet, his parents said they had hiked in the same area about a year earlier, but he had felt tired and had to turn back before reaching the top. “On the day he went missing, he said, ‘I will just go up a little and then come back,’” they said.
Authorities said they suspected the boy had slipped and fallen, according to the Yonhap news agency, and an investigation is underway to establish the exact cause. The incident follows the death of a hiker in his sixties who went missing on Mount Seorak in Gangwon last September and was found dead two days later.
