Mokpo Coast Guard Arrests Largest Domestic Jeju Visa-Free Illegal Activity Brokerage Organization

Five Members of Domestic Organization Facilitating Unauthorized Departure and Five Attempting Unauthorized Departure Sent to Prosecution in Custody

Mokpo Maritime Police Station (Chief Kwon Oh-seong) arrested five members of the largest domestic organization facilitating unauthorized departures from Jeju and five foreigners who attempted unauthorized departure, and sent them to the prosecution under charges of violating the Jeju Special Act.

According to Mokpo Maritime Police on the 22nd, on May 23rd, five Vietnamese nationals who attempted unauthorized departure via passenger ship after visa-free entry to Jeju Island were arrested on site. After tracking the brokers and transporters who facilitated them for over two months, the police uncovered the largest domestic organization facilitating unauthorized visa-free departures from Jeju and arrested five members of the organization.

Mokpo Coast Guard is arresting a suspect involved in unauthorized departure facilitation.
[Photo by Mokpo Maritime Police Station]

The facilitation organization conspired with Vietnamese brokers and recruited Vietnamese nationals who entered visa-free. They also prepared cargo trucks and secret bases (safe houses) for the crime, produced flyers promoting unauthorized departure, and posted advertisements on SNS platforms such as Telegram, committing crimes extensively and systematically.

They hid foreigners in the cargo compartments of trucks and loaded them onto ships to assist unauthorized departure, receiving facilitation fees of up to 3 million KRW per person, totaling over 50 million KRW in five installments.

Regarding Vietnamese broker A, who recruited unauthorized visa-free departures in Vietnam and introduced them to the facilitation organization, an arrest warrant has been issued, Interpol red notice has been requested, and an extradition request is planned.

A Mokpo Maritime Police official stated, “We will strengthen crackdowns on illegal movements under visa-free entry,” and added, “We urge the public to actively report international crimes such as maritime stowaways, illegal immigration, and unauthorized visa-free departures from Jeju through 112.”