<Anchor>



Kim Hwi-seong, a 3rd grader at Seohyeon High School in Bundang, who had been conducting a large-scale search after losing contact for a week, was finally confirmed dead. Kim's body was found on a mountain trail in the Bundang area.



By Lee Dae-wook.



<Reporter> Kim



Hwi-seong, a third-year student at Seohyeon High School, was found dead.



Police said today (28th) at 6:33 a.m., Kim was found dead on the mountain trail south of the main gate of Saemaul Training Center in Bundang-gu, Seongnam-si.



Police are investigating whether there is a criminal connection.



Kim sent a text message to his aunt saying he bought a book at a bookstore at 4:40 pm on the 22nd and said he would go home after self-study at night.



In fact, it was confirmed that Kim visited the bookstore 40 minutes later, but it was his last act that was caught on CCTV as he headed to a nearby bus stop.



Kim left his cell phone at school and it was difficult to track the location, but the police have been checking public transportation black boxes and building CCTVs related to Kim's movement.



Since yesterday, the search scope has been expanded and search operations have been carried out on mountains and parks in Bundang-gu.



The body of Kim was discovered by a civilian special search dog who came to the rescue at the request of the police.