Chijon family

Kim Gi-hwan (김기환) - Kim Gi-hwan was the leader of the gang. He was 27. (All ages here are in Korean age). It was said that he was the top student in his class. He ranked amateur dan 1 in baduk ('go (game)' in Japanese). According to his report card, he skipped many days of school due to his family's financial problems. He left school during middle school grade 1 (seventh grade) because of this. At an early age, he moved to Busan and worked in a shoe factory or a plywood factory. Then he did manual labour in Seoul. Eventually, he returned back home angry at the world and his life. He began to think of committing heinous acts after watching the news about corruption in the university entrance exams. He met the other members in a poker game where he formed the gang. For raping his niece, Kim was the first of the gang members to be arrested and convicted. The police at that time had not known that Kim already killed the gang's first victim.[2]

Moon Sang-rok (문상록) - He was 23 at the time. Prior to the gang, he already had 3 convictions.[3]

Kim Hyun-yang (김현양) - He was 22 at the time.[4]

Kang Dong-un (강동운) - Kang was 21 at the time. Prior to the gang, he already had 2 previous convictions of special larceny.[5]

Baek Byung-ok (백병옥) - He was 20 at the time. Prior to the gang, he had already committed 2 special robberies.[6]

Kang Moon-sub (강문섭) - He was 20 at the time.[7]

Lee Kyung-sook (이경숙) - She was 23 at the time. Prior to joining the gang, she met one of the gang members, Kang Dong-un, at a coffee house. After they began to date together, Kang paid all of Lee's debts.[8]

All of the male members worked in construction zones or factories prior to the gang.[9]

Their doctrine was as follows:

1. 우리는 돈 많은 자들을 저주한다.

 We hate those with plenty of money.

2. 조직을 배신한 자는 반드시 죽인다.

 A traitor to the group must be killed.

3. 여자는 어머니도 믿지 말라.

 Do not trust a woman, not even your mother.[10]

Part of their plan was to gather a billion won (about $1,250,000 in 1993) by working manual labour in the construction zones of Bundang and Dunsan. At that time, South Korea was developing new urban areas near Seoul and in Daejeon. The money that they gathered funded their small incineration facility, two vehicles, walkie-talkies, dynamite and 17 weapons including 6 rifles, a submachine gun, a pistol, an air gun, a military sword, a hiking knife, an electric prod, etc. Part of their own training was hiking Jirisan, the second tallest mountain in South Korea.[11]

After the gang got arrested, the broker who got them the weapons, especially the illegal firearms, got arrested. It is currently nearly impossible for a civilian to order a firearm in South Korea now.[12]

Kim Gi-hwan's acquaintance's niece - Although she was not murdered, she was raped by Kim Gi-hwan, the gang leader in June 17 (before the gang's first murder). This resulted in Kim's early arrest after the second murder.[13]

Miss Choi - She was 20 at the time. The gang abducted, raped and murdered her in July 18, 1993, 11 pm. The gang considered this as "practice." The victim was really not wealthy. She was a farmer's daughter. They took her to a hill and gang raped her. According to a confession by Kim Hyun-yang, Kim Gi-hwan choked the victim and said, "this is how you kill a person." Her body was discovered by a villager who was cutting weed. The police did not find the motive nor who the murderers were until the gang made their confessions much later.[14]

Song Bong-un - He was actually a member of the gang. He was 18 at the time. He forged his brother's ID and pretended to be 23. He managed the gang's funds that were earned through manual labours. He escaped with 3 million won of the gang's money. The remaining gang members found him hiding at his relative's house in Siheung (시흥) in August 1993. They took him to a secluded area about 4 km away from their incineration facility, and proceeded to kill him. They also killed and ate a dog at the same location afterwards. During their arrest, they helped the police find Song's buried body.[15]

The couple- The man (34) was a musician. The woman (27) was a café worker. Although neither were wealthy, the man was driving a Hyundai Grandeur, which was considered as a sign of wealth at the time. This was a time before the much more expensive European luxury cars became common sights in South Korea. This made the couple the gang's next targets in September 8, 1994, 3 am. The gang had heard a rumour that the motels in Yangsu-ri (양수리) were "popular" destinations of the rich. They waited around that area, and chose the couple in the Grandeur. They trapped the musician's Grandeur with their pickup truck and their Daewoo LeMans. They fired with a gas gun, stabbed the musician and began to beat them up. They tied the couple with tape and then took them to their incineration facility. The gang raped the café worker inside the facility. The next night, the gang demanded an amount of money that the musician did not have. After confirmation that the musician was not wealthy, the gang told him that they would kill him "painlessly." They forced him to drink a liqour, placed a plastic wrap over his head and then choked him. They forced the café worker to help in order to have her be part of the murder, and to prevent her from escaping and reporting to the police. Kim Hyun-yang convinced the gang to let the café worker live. The gang then took the body of the musician to a cliff, placed him in the driver's seat of his car and then pushed the car off the cliff. Prior to this, one of the gang members left the Grandeur's skid marks near the cliff. They also gang raped the café worker at the same location. The musician's relatives reported the disappearance to the police. A construction worker discovered the car and the musician, which the police mistakenly considered as an accident. From the smell of alcohol from the body's mouth, they quickly assumed this to be a case of drunk driving.[16]

The married couple - Although the husband, So (42), owned a factory in Ulsan, the couple lived in Seoul. It was said that So bought the factory not long before the incident. In September 13, 1994, right before the Chuseok holiday, he and his wife, Park, were picking weed off the grave of his family member. It was here that the gang abducted them and took them to the incineration facility. They demanded So 100 million won cash. So told them that although he did not have that amount of money, he said that he could give 80 million. This 80 million was originally for the factory workers and the maintenance of the factory. Keeping So's wife as hostage, they sent So to get the money. So got his worker to get the money to him. Although the worker reported to the police in Ulsan, the worker was told to report to Gwangju where the money was given to So. Police departments leaving the case to another jurisdiction happened many times in South Korea back then. In Gwangju, the police assumed that this was a fake case to hide from the company's financial problems. Despite giving the gang the money, the gang forced the café worker to shoot So's head with the air gun. Then the gang murdered Park. They ate parts of the bodies, even forcing the café worker to eat the liver. To hide the smell from the incineration, the gang had a barbecue on front of the facility. They even offered the pork barbecue to the villagers. One gang member later admitted to dismembering his victims and eating their flesh, saying this was to fire up his courage and to renounce his humanity.[17]

The gang, emboldened by a series of successful murders and kidnappings, decided that they needed a more effective way to pick out wealthy victims. They were able to buy the mailing list from Seoul's exclusive Hyundai Department Store from a disgruntled worker. The list contained the names of the shop's 1,200 best customers who paid with credit cards. From this list, they chose their next victims.[18] The department store worker was arrested after the gang got arrested.[19]

In September 16, 1994, the gang practiced throwing dynamite. They were going to attempt to free Kim Gi-hyang out of the police station with dynamite. Kim Hyun-yang got burnt during a practice, and went to the hospital. He took the café worker with him. Kim trusted her, and left her responsible for 500 thousand won cash and Kang Dong-un's cell phone. It was during this time that the café worker found a chance to escape. She took a taxi, then called for a rental car while hiding at a vineyard, drove to Daejeon, and then took a taxi to Seoul. She was too scared to report to the police. Instead, she hid in a motel in Yeoksam-dong, Seoul. From there, she called his male friend to report to the police for her. He reported to the Seocho Police Station. Later on, she went to the police station.[20]

At first, the police did not believe her. They thought she was high on drugs and checked for any hypodermic needle marks. They did not find any. The chief criminal investigator (Go Byung-cheon) realized that the café worker was talking about the missing married couple, whom were not mentioned on the news yet. The police began to believe her and investigate.[21]

The gang had been watching the local police department. When they saw that there was no action to search for them, the gang assumed that the café worker did not report them.[22]

The police traced So's cell phone. They found it to be in Yonggwang County. It matched the café worker's story.[23]

In the early morning of September 17, 1994, the police went to Jangsu where the musician's car was pushed down. Although the local police were aware of the car, the ones in the Seocho District were not aware. After checking the case to be true, the police waited at the apartment where the gang member Kang Dong-un lived. They arrested him in September 19 when he arrived in the pickup truck. The police called the rest of the gang, claiming to be the hospital, and said that Kang was in a big accident. After luring them, the police arrested them.[24]

On November 1, 1994, the Chijon family (except for Kang Dong-un's girlfriend, Lee Kyung-sook, who did not take part in any of the murders) was sentenced to death for the murder of five people.[25] After sentencing, none of the murderers showed any trace of remorse. One told television reporters before his trial that his only regret was that he had not killed more rich kids.

On November 2, 1995, all members of the Chijon family (except for Kang Dong-un's girlfriend, Lee Kyung-sook) were executed. Lee Kyung-sook was just convicted of fleeing the scene of (a) crime(s).

During their arrest and a press conference, one of the gang members claimed that there were more of them out there.

Due to the lack of information provided to the public at the time, it was widely assumed that all of the victims were wealthy people.

At the same time of the 1996 North Korean commandos infiltration incident, there was a South Korean 9-man copycat gang of the Jijon Family. The copycat gang called themselves the Maggapa (막가파). The police arrested them in October 29, 1996.

There was an interview of the surviving victim years later. She was still heavily traumatized.