It's a sunny Saturday afternoon in Seoul and a team of eagle-eyed amateur sleuths have gathered on a street corner in the megacity's Gangnam district.
They're here to solve a murder mystery.
The case: a female reporter has gone missing, and they want to know if she's dead or still alive somewhere in South Korea's vast capital.
"We are a detective club that has been around since August 2006," says Noh Young-wook, who runs the RS Reasoning Club. "We have around 30,000 members who love investigating."
Noh Young-wook runs a Seoul detective club. Since 2006, it has attracted 30,000 members who, in their spare time, like to solve true crime re-enactments. Source: SBS
These club members are essentially hobbyists whose passion is crime scene investigation. They gather regularly for true crime book talks, game days and re-enactments of real crimes.
Part of the allure lies in the authenticity of the experience. Noh's fellow organisers are all wearing black bulletproof vests worn by crime investigators, crime scenes are draped in police tape and the warehouse is peppered with life-like evidence of a crime.
There's a make-shift drugs lab, fake blood, weapons, DNA evidence and, of course, a 'victim'.
Today, that role is being played by Noh's offsider, Park Ji-hye, who's been lying motionless on the ground for almost two hours with a very believable fake stab wound to the abdomen.
"My passion is second to none," says Park, afterwards. "I once wanted to become a police officer. There are so many cases that I watch with interest."
Park Ji-hye says she follows many crime cases with interest. Source: SBS
Crime as entertainment
Noh says many club members, including himself, are avid consumers of crime TV.
"I only watch mystery movies or dramas. I am a bit of a fanatic," he says. "Recently, lots of criminal mystery TV shows have appeared in South Korea. And it hasn't been long since the non-mainstream mystery genre has been in the spotlight.
"It seems that many people have become more interested in mystery-solving activities like ours after watching these shows on TV.”
According to a 2022 survey by the Korean Film Council, half of Koreans polled say crime and thrillers are their favourite TV and movie genres.
Crime thrillers like Memories of Murder and The Chaser were local hits in the early 2000s. More recently, Netflix shows such as Inspector Koo, The Good Detective and Voice have helped feed a global appetite for Korean thrillers and crime dramas.
What's behind the true crime craze?
The fact that South Korea is a relatively safe place allows true crime stories to be enjoyed without fear, says detective Kim Jin-ku from the Korean National Police Agency.
"If Korea was a dangerous society, people would be scared of content related to everyday crime news.
"Because the detection rate for crimes is high, the incidence of serious crimes is low and society is safe … a culture of enjoying crime-related content has been formed."
Detective Kim Jin-ku from the Korean National Police Agency says many Koreans have become obsessed with true crime after years of repression, when harsh censorship laws kept stories of crime and corruption under wraps. Source: SBS
It's a weekly investigation program that breaks down past and active crimes and actively accepts tips from viewers.
Kim says strong historical reasons are driving Koreans towards true crime content.
Colonisation by Japan and the was followed by decades of military dictatorship. Harsh censorship laws meant stories of crime and corruption were suppressed.
But as liberalisation arrived in the '90s, Korean filmmakers slowly began treading into formerly forbidden territory.
Thriller, horror, mystery and true crime emerged as a response to years of repression, exposing the country's violent, corrupt past.
After decades of having the truth silenced, Kim believes the word 'true' in true crime means a lot to Koreans.
"I think Koreans are all righteous. We all have a certain belief and mental attitude where we can honestly say if we have committed an erroneous action or a crime.
"If there is any cold case and a victim who is suffering because of such unsolved cases, viewers might feel like they really want to solve the case."
Kim says there's another factor propping up true crime programming: a huge female audience.
RS Reasoning Club is known for its realistic recreations of crime scenes. There's a make-shift drugs lab, fake blood, weapons, DNA evidence and, of course, a “victim”. Source: SBS / Dateline
In 2020, women accounted for 44.8 per cent of homicide victims in South Korea, compared with 20 per cent in the United States and around 30 per cent in Australia, according to statistics from the Korean National Police Agency.
True crime over-exposure
These factors have coalesced to create in South Korea. Programming ranges from true crime quiz shows and panel discussions dissecting bloody crimes to forensics shows and R-rated re-enactments.
They all have one thing in common: graphic, blood-soaked content.
But not everyone is a fan.
Academic and culture critic Han Yu-Hee is concerned about viewers being exposed to graphic crime purely through an entertainment lens.
"It is problematic that we see [crime] as some sort of entertainment. They use dramatic methods to illustrate cases … the criminal's actions become a little scarier," she says.
"In doing so, the victims are erased and reduced to objects … and the victims and their family members will be very traumatised by it."
Academic and culture critic Han Yu-Hee believes seeing lots of graphic crime through an entertainment lens can be dangerous because victims become objectified. Source: SBS
Last year, in a case that made global news headlines, a true crime fan killed a complete stranger.
Jung Yoo-jung, 23, had been obsessed with crime shows and novels before becoming fixated with the idea of murder.
It is problematic that we see [crime] as some sort of entertainment.Han Yu-Hee
She dismembered her victim's body, stuffed it into a suitcase and dumped the remains in a remote parkland. Police say her online browsing history showed she had researched for months how to kill and dispose of a body.
"When talking about the motive for her crime, I think it could have been an excuse like, 'I committed a crime because I watched a lot of these things'," Han says.
She believes true crime content can desensitise people to reality.
"As more and more stimulating and strange and brutal crimes are committed, people think committing this much crime isn’t a big deal."
Making 'the world a better place'
But for passionate true crime hobbyists like Noh Young-wook and Park Ji-hye, the enigmatic allure of crime scene investigation will always represent a form of unique intellectual stimulation.
Passionate true crime hobbyists Noh Young-wook (left) and Park Ji-hye (right) say solving true crime re-enactments expands their mind. Source: SBS
"These detective activities develop people's intellect by thinking deeply, which is very important. I think if more people use this sort of thinking then it will make the world a better place."
She also believes solving crimes is a way of righting the world's wrongs.
"It may sound a little far-fetched, but I think it makes the world a better place. Because detective activity is about coming from a sense of uncertainty to confidently knowing.
"I'll sum it up in just one sentence: You, too, can be Sherlock Holmes!"
