Citizens Can't Travel Abroad... 'Overseas Escape Offenders' Reached Record High of 943 Cases Last Year

1 out of 3 Cases Fled to China
Assemblyman Kim Yong-pan: "Expand Investigation Personnel and Conduct Effective Investigations with Escape Countries"

Kim Yong-pan, member of the People Power Party. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] Despite the difficulty of international travel amid the spread of COVID-19, it has been revealed that the number of criminals fleeing abroad reached a record high last year.

According to data on 'Annual Overseas Fugitives' submitted by the National Police Agency to Kim Yong-pan, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the People Power Party, a total of 2,977 overseas fugitives occurred over the past four years. By year, there were 528 cases in 2017, 579 in 2018, then sharply increased to 927 in 2019 and 943 last year.

The countries of escape were mostly Asian countries, with China accounting for the highest number at 988 cases (33%), followed by the Philippines with 657 cases (22%), and Thailand with 200 cases (6%). The charges against the fugitives included 1,326 cases of fraud, and 290 cases of murder, robbery, rape, and injury. There were also 98 cases involving sex offenders.

While the number of criminals fleeing abroad is increasing, Kim pointed out that the police's domestic repatriation performance significantly decreased last year. Domestic repatriations were 300 cases in 2017, 304 in 2018, and 401 in 2019, but dropped to 271 last year. Although the global COVID-19 pandemic had an impact, a shortage of personnel in the Interpol cooperation departments is also cited as one of the causes. As of last month, the total personnel in the Interpol cooperation departments of the National Police Agency and city/provincial police agencies was only 47.

Kim emphasized, "It is an ironic situation where overseas fugitives continue to increase despite the difficulty of international travel due to COVID-19," and added, "It is necessary to expand investigative personnel in line with the increase in fugitives and to conduct effective investigations with the countries of escape."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.