Overseas Fugitive Criminals 4,225 Classified by Grade... Focused Management on Voice Phishing and Jeonse Fraud

Police to Enhance Management of Major International Fugitives
Reflecting Crime Severity, Damage Scale, Public Interest, and Extradition Likelihood

The police will classify fugitives who committed crimes domestically and fled abroad into different tiers to focus on their capture and repatriation. In particular, investigative efforts will be further strengthened to apprehend malicious fraudsters, such as those involved in voice phishing and jeonse fraud, which harm ordinary citizens, as well as drug offenders.

On the morning of the 15th, the National Police Agency decided to implement the "2024 Advanced Concentrated Management System for Major Overseas Fugitives" at the weekly work meeting chaired by Commissioner Yoon Hee-geun. Although key targets have been intensively managed to strengthen the repatriation of overseas fugitives, this is the first time that a tiered classification system has been introduced.

According to the National Police Agency, there are currently 4,225 suspects who fled abroad among those under investigation nationwide. By country, China accounts for the largest number with 1,491, followed by the Philippines with 670, and the United States with 548.

Starting this year, the police plan to assign a three-tier classification (core, focused, general) to overseas fugitives by comprehensively evaluating factors such as ▲the nature of the crime ▲extent of damage (number of victims and amount of damage) ▲social interest ▲and the possibility of capture and repatriation.

First, the National Investigation Headquarters and investigative agencies of the National Police Agency will independently select and submit candidates for the ‘focused’ and ‘general’ tiers. Then, the Interpol International Cooperation Officer of the National Police Agency will review and compile the first list of concentrated management targets. Subsequently, through a joint meeting of the National Police Agency, the ‘core’ tier targets requiring the highest priority for capture and repatriation among the ‘focused’ tier will be finalized.

On the 26th of last month, the suspect in the 'Gangnam Academy District Drug Drink' case, who was extradited from China to Korea, is entering the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Malicious fraudsters involved in voice phishing, jeonse fraud, and important offenders of addictive crimes such as drugs are highly likely to be selected as core tier targets. Representative examples include the recent case of a ?4.6 billion embezzlement suspect from the National Health Insurance Service apprehended in the Philippines and the Gangnam drug beverage suspect who was caught in China last month and repatriated to Korea, both of which attracted public attention.

Among the selected core tier targets, suspects whose capture and repatriation are delayed will be separately identified, and prompt capture and repatriation measures will be devised through case-specific strategy meetings. Additionally, the National Police Agency plans to establish a constant communication network with related agencies and investigative offices for each target to share cooperation progress and crime intelligence, and to focus on planning joint operations for arrests.

The National Police Agency will collect and review the concentrated management target lists from investigative offices nationwide and select the first list by the 22nd. Then, through a joint meeting at the end of this month, the final list will be confirmed, and full-scale concentrated management will commence.

A National Police Agency official explained, “There is no separate limit on the number of people per tier, and core tier targets will be selected mainly among those urgently requiring capture and repatriation by comprehensively considering various factors,” adding, “This is part of efforts to manage the thousands of overseas fugitives more efficiently.”

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