The body of an 11-year-old boy, who had gone missing from a national park in South Korea’s North Gyeongsang province over the weekend, was found on Tuesday, authorities said.
The boy disappeared during his visit to the Juwangsan National Park. Police said he likely died after falling from the peak of a mountain.
The body was found around 100m from the mountain’s peak after three days of a search operation that involved more than 350 personnel.
The sixth-grade student had travelled with his parents from their home in Daegu on 10 May to visit Daejeonsa, a Buddhist temple inside the national park.
At around midday, the boy reportedly told his parents that he wanted to climb a little further up the mountain before heading off alone towards the summit. He wasn’t carrying a cellphone.
The hiking route from Daejeonsa to the peak of the Juwangsan mountain, which reaches a height of 720m, is 2-3km and usually takes an adult about 80 minutes each way.
When the boy didn’t 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.
“We hiked here about a year ago as well, but he felt tired and had to come down before reaching the top,” his parents told a local news outlet. “On the day he went missing, he said, ‘I will just go up a little and then come back.’”
Authorities said that they suspected the boy died after slipping and falling down on the mountain, according to Yonhap.
An investigation is now underway to determine the exact cause and circumstances of the incident.
In September last year, a hiker in his 60s went missing on Mount Seorak in Gangwon near Gongryong Ridge. He was discovered dead two days later.
