'Tails of Tales' Groom-to-Be Disappears After Plastic Surgery: The End for the Man Who Tried to Change His Life with Stolen Money

Find the Man Who Disappeared After Changing His Face

On the June 25 broadcast of SBS's "Tails of Tales" (hereafter "Kkokkomu"), the show tracked the escape of a groom-to-be under the subtitle "The Pursuer vs. The Fugitive: The Man with Two Faces."

Ju-yeon was spending happy days ahead of her wedding photoshoot. However, her boyfriend and groom-to-be, Mr. Kim, disappeared overnight. In particular, Kim shocked everyone by vanishing with 4.7 billion won of public funds from the company where he worked.

Kim, who had been promoted to manager after just two years, was working in the finance team of a company. However, after delaying his commute with various excuses, he suddenly disappeared with the 4.7 billion won.

Everything about Kim was a lie. To find him, the company even offered a bounty of 100 million won. The police also began their pursuit of Kim.

After tracking Kim, detectives found his accomplices. During the pursuit, they also confirmed that he had undergone plastic surgery to change his face just 17 days into his escape.

After a relentless pursuit by veteran detectives, his hideout was discovered about 20 days after his escape. Detectives raided the hideout and found 170 million won in cash. However, Kim had already vanished.

In fact, Kim had been inside the hideout the entire time detectives were conducting surveillance. He had installed CCTV cameras in the rooftop room of the hideout to monitor the staking-out detectives. Upon noticing the raid, he moved to the adjacent building via the rooftop, grabbed the bag of money he had hidden in advance, and fled.

Kim's escape reignited the detectives' determination. Deducing his final destination, they kept in mind the possibility of him contacting his family or relatives.

Kim was born on an island in Jeolla Province. A broadcasting producer who was covering Kim's case received a tip that one of Kim's relatives had entered his hometown island.

The producer found it suspicious that the relative had headed to the mountain carrying a shovel. Through further investigation, the producer secured testimony that Kim had also visited his hometown island twice before, carrying a large box. Along with company employees, the producer searched the mountain on the hometown island where Kim had reportedly been, looking for the money. However, they were unable to find it, leaving them disappointed.

Afterward, detectives continued their pursuit of Kim and noticed that city gas had recently been installed in Mokpo under the name of one of his relatives. That location turned out to be Kim's new hideout.

Just as they were about to raid the location, Kim's family offered to persuade him to surrender, and the detectives accepted the proposal.

On the 48th day of his escape, Kim was apprehended by the police. Expressing apology to his company and girlfriend, Kim said, "Now that I've been caught, my mind is at ease."

Bundles of cash and bankbooks used for the embezzlement were discovered throughout his hideout. However, some of the money was still missing. As detectives continued to interrogate Kim, he confessed that he had buried the money in his hometown. Yet, no money was found at the location he specified.

Ultimately, the remaining money was found at his family home in his hometown. By discovering 1.6 billion won there, authorities succeeded in recovering more than 90% of the embezzled amount.

The recipient of the bounty offered by the company was Producer Yoon, who had been covering the story for the broadcast. However, he declined the reward. The producer explained, "I didn't want to use my luck here. Money is precious, but it only has value and meaning when it is earned fair and square," adding, "I felt better and more fulfilled by not accepting the money," leaving viewers with much to think about.

Kim, who reportedly kept detailed records of his expenses to save money since it was meant to last a lifetime, had sought to change his life with someone else's money. However, for Kim, who coveted stolen money without putting in any effort, the end was nothing but misery and anxiety.

Edited by Kim Hyo-jung | SBS Entertainment News
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.