Travelers Most Attempt Illegal Employment in Korea... 16 Vietnamese Caught Locally

Broker Arrested by Public Security, Entry Blocked Over 23 Million KRW Per Person Brokerage Fee

Vietnamese nationals and brokers who illegally entered Korea disguised as tourists and then sought jobs were caught by local police.

On the 24th, local media VN Express reported that the police in Thua Thien Hue Province in central Vietnam arrested and are investigating three brokers, including Hoang Van Bac (28), who facilitated illegal entry into Korea. They are suspected of forging documents to allow 16 Vietnamese to enter Korea as tourists and helping them find jobs locally.

It was found that Vietnamese hoping to work in Korea paid brokers a commission of 420 million VND (about 22.8 million KRW) per person. Local police stated that the brokers were apprehended before the Vietnamese entered Korea, thwarting their illegal entry attempts.

Korean Illegal Immigration Brokers Arrested by Vietnamese Police
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Last year, a domestic broker gang that tried to bring dozens of Vietnamese into the country by posing them as overseas buyers was also caught by the police. In September last year, the Namdaemun Police Station in Seoul sent three entry brokers and representatives and employees of 10 small and medium-sized enterprises to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office without detention on charges including violation of the Immigration Control Act.

Korean broker Mr. A (59) is suspected of creating fake invitation letters to disguise 26 Vietnamese who intended to enter Korea for employment as buyers purchasing Korean products and applying for business visas at the Korean Embassy in Vietnam from November 2022 to March last year.

Mr. A received a commission of USD 10,000 (about 13 million KRW) per Vietnamese person. The domestic companies involved in the crime were found to have committed the crime together because they could pay about half the wages compared to Koreans and wanted to employ them. At the time of arrest, 40 Vietnamese attempted illegal entry through Mr. A’s group, of whom 13 were found to be illegally staying in Korea. The remaining 27 were either denied visa issuance or refused entry at domestic airports.

Meanwhile, last year, tourists who arrived on charter flights from Thailand repeatedly lost contact. On February 3 last year, 13 members of a charter flight group who arrived at Muan Airport from Bangkok disappeared immediately after entry procedures, and three days later on the 6th, 10 passengers who arrived at Muan Airport from Bangkok on a charter flight also left the airport without permission.

Muan Airport had suspended international flights due to the spread of COVID-19 but resumed some routes in July and November last year. Since then, starting from the 30th of last month, it resumed charter flights from Thailand for the first time after COVID-19, but immediately after resuming charter flights, unauthorized departures occurred twice out of three charter flights. Due to this, Jeonnam Province revised its original plan to attract tourists through charter flights after signing an inbound travel product business agreement with Thailand.