He was found off hiking trail near 720-meter summit, believed to have died after falling
An 11-year-old boy who went missing Sunday was found dead near the peak of Juwangsan National Park at around 10:13 a.m. Tuesday, according to North Gyeongsang police and fire authorities. He is believed to have died after falling.
Rescue authorities discovered the boy's body at about 10:25 a.m., about 100 meters from the mountain's peak, after deploying more than 350 personnel on the third day of the search.
The sixth-grade elementary school student had visited Daejeonsa, a Buddhist temple inside the national park, with his parents after traveling from his home in Daegu on Sunday.
Around noon, he told his parents he would “go a little farther up the mountain” before setting out alone toward the peak without a cellphone. The trail from the temple to the 720-meter Juwangsan summit stretches about 2 to 3 kilometers and typically takes an adult about 1 hour and 20 minutes each way.
His parents reported him missing later that day after he failed to return.
Local police plan to conduct an investigation into the exact circumstances of his death.
milaya@heraldcorp.com
