Overtaking Chinese to 1st Place... Koreans Committed Crimes and Fled to 'I Nara'

Koreans Top List of Foreign Fugitives Arrested in the Philippines Last Year
74 Koreans Apprehended, Surpassing Chinese Nationals

Last year, 41% of foreign fugitives who fled to the Philippines and were apprehended locally were found to be Korean. Koreans outnumbered Chinese nationals.

The Philippine Immigration Office arrested two Koreans who were wanted for criminal charges in Korea and fled to the Philippines last month. Screenshot from the Philippine Star website

According to Yonhap News Agency, on the 10th (local time), local media such as the Inquirer reported, citing the Philippine Bureau of Immigration, that 180 foreign fugitives who fled overseas to the Philippines were arrested last year. This represents a 41% increase from the previous year (128 people).

Among them, 74 were Koreans, accounting for 41%, the highest number. The number of Koreans arrested nearly doubled from 39 the previous year, and their proportion increased by more than 10 percentage points from 30%.

Chinese nationals followed with 62 people. Next were 12 Taiwanese, 11 Japanese, 7 Americans, 2 Italians, and 2 Australians.

They were reportedly wanted for various crimes including economic crimes, investment fraud, illegal gambling, money laundering, phishing scams, robbery, and drug trafficking before being apprehended.

A Bureau of Immigration official stated, "Almost all of the apprehended foreign fugitives have already been deported to their countries of origin and are currently serving prison sentences after being convicted of crimes."

The Philippine Bureau of Immigration emphasized in a statement, "As we have repeatedly declared, the Philippines prohibits the entry of all foreign fugitives," adding, "This country is not a refuge for foreign criminals."

The Philippines, frequented by Korean tourists and with relatively poor public safety, is often used as a major hideout for domestic criminals. Cases of these fugitives being caught locally and repatriated through cooperation between Korean and Philippine authorities are increasing.

Last month, Mr. A (59), wanted in Korea on charges of embezzlement and fraud, and Mr. B (47), wanted on charges of assault and robbery, were both apprehended in the Philippines and are awaiting repatriation. Both were illegally residing after overstaying their visas.

In December last year, Mr. C (36), the mastermind who operated an illegal gambling site worth 2 trillion won and led a luxurious life abroad by purchasing luxury sports cars such as Bugattis with criminal proceeds, was apprehended in Cebu through cooperation between the prosecution and the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and repatriated.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office signed a memorandum of understanding with the Philippine NBI in 2016 to respond to transnational crimes and has been dispatching two prosecution investigators since 2022 to carry out international cooperation and fugitive apprehension tasks.