Marathon Runner...? How a Kenyan Who Worked at a Fish Farm Came Here

A group that deceived authorities into allowing marathon runners from Kenya, Africa to enter the country by pretending they were participating in domestic competitions, and then illegally arranged employment for them at seafood farms in the Gyeongnam region, has been handed over to the prosecution.

According to Yonhap News on the 19th, the Changwon Coast Guard arrested and sent marathon runner A (29), affiliated with a local government sports council, on charges of violating the Immigration Control Act and obstruction of official duties by deception, while coach B (52) from another local government sports council and A’s spouse C (33) were sent without detention.

They are accused of employing seven Kenyan marathon runners at seafood companies such as aquaculture farms on the southern coast of Gyeongnam between November last year and July this year. During this process, they presented forged invitations to a famous domestic marathon event to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Kenya to obtain related visas, enabling the athletes to enter Korea. They are also suspected of pocketing about 34 million KRW from the Kenyan athletes in return.

Kenyan marathon runners working at the fish farm. Photo by Changwon Maritime Police Station

They named this criminal scheme the 'KK Project' and promoted it on social networking services (SNS) as recruiting 300 Kenyan workers. During the crime, they created videos stating that "Korean seafood farms have easy work and high wages," and also illegally used the names of Kenyan-born athletes who had naturalized in Korea.

All seven Kenyan athletes who came to Korea were officially registered marathon runners with the Kenya Athletics Association, and one of them was identified as having previously placed in a domestic marathon competition.

The Kenyan athletes reportedly entered Korea knowing they would work at aquaculture farms even if the work was unrelated to marathon running, because earning money in Korea, even in small amounts, would yield significant profits due to exchange rate differences in their home country. Of these, six have already returned to Kenya, but the whereabouts of the remaining one are unknown, and the Coast Guard is tracking them.

Earlier, in February, the Coast Guard began investigating after noticing the employment of African black individuals, who are rarely seen at aquaculture farms on the southern coast. About five months later, in July, the Coast Guard sent three brokers, including the head of a manpower agency who directly arranged employment for the seven Kenyan athletes, to prosecution without detention on charges of violating the Immigration Control Act and the Employment Security Act.