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By Lee Han-soo

Twenty-two men in their 20s have been arrested for the alleged gang rape of two girls five years ago, police said Tuesday.

Four have been indicted in pre-trial detention and six indicted without detention, investigators said. Twelve others are under investigation.

The accused are suspected of raping two middle-school students in September 2011 when they were high school students.

The alleged ring leader is suspected of plotting the rape after he saw the two victims drinking alcohol. Threatening to report them to their school, he and his friends called the girls to a cabin in the hills a few days later, police alleged. In the cabin, the students forced the girls to drink and four boys raped one after she passed out, police said. Days later, another six boys raped the girls. Then, 12 others unsuccessfully tried to assault the girls, police said.

The incident was buried until August 2012, when one of the suspects spoke about the case while being investigated for his alleged involvement in another sexual assault. But the two victims were so traumatized that they refused to testify, investigators said. They said it took nearly four years for the girls to overcome their trauma and testify.

"The victims filed a complaint against the suspects in March 2016," said an investigator. Of the 22, 12 are serving in the military and the others are either college students or office workers.

Some suspects' parents have questioned the credibility of the alleged victims' testimony.