Lee Seung-bok
Lee Seung-bok was a South Korean boy who lived on a farm in the northern area of Gyebangsan, Gangwon Province. He was born on December 9, 1959 and died on December 9, 1968, at the age of 9.
In late October 1968, North Korean commandos crossed into South Korea with a mission to set up guerrilla bases. South Korean forces chased them as they moved through the mountains.
On the night of December 9, North Korean soldiers came to Lee’s house, asking for food and shelter. They asked Lee which country he preferred. He said he supported South Korea. The soldiers beat him and killed him and his mother and his two younger siblings. His father and older brother escaped and alerted the authorities. The attackers fled and were never identified.
After his death, Lee Seung-bok became a symbol in South Korea for anti-Communist education. Statues of him were placed in many schools, and a memorial center was built in Pyeongchang in 1982. He was also awarded the Order of Civil Merit posthumously by President Chun Doo-hwan.
In the 1990s, as education policies changed, many statues were removed and references to the incident were reduced in textbooks. Rumors circulated that Lee never existed. In 1999–2004, defamation cases confirmed that the incident did happen and that contemporary reports were accurate.
The Lee Seung-bok Memorial Center in Nodong-ri, near his home, preserves photos, paintings, and memories of his life and death. The park area shows parts of Lee’s family home and military artifacts, and the graves of Lee and his family are located there.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 11:06 (CET).