Hundreds of overseas fugitives remain at large: lawmaker
By KH디지털2Published : Oct. 23, 2014 - 10:32
More than 400 South Korean criminal suspects remain at large after fleeing overseas, with only a few dozen being extradited to South Korea each year, a lawmaker said Thursday.
Citing data from the justice ministry, Rep. Seo Young-kyo of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy said the number of fugitives has been on the rise since 2010. The figure stood at 674 in 2010 but gradually rose to 815 last year. This year, there were 414 fugitives in the first half.
While prosecutors have been able to round up more than half of them each year, hundreds escaped captivity. In 2010, prosecutors failed to get hold of 337 fugitives, while 267 got away last year.
Less than 10 percent of the suspects were repatriated to South Korea. In 2010, nine were returned, and last year, 20 were repatriated. In the first half of this year, there were 21 deported suspects.
China was their favorite destination in 2013, with 129 having chosen to flee there. The United States followed with 124, and the Philippines was third with 70.
Most of the fugitives last year were suspects in financial crimes. Some 370 of them had committed either fraud, embezzlement or dereliction of duty.
"So many suspects have escaped overseas, yet prosecutors fail to repatriate most of them," Rep. Seo said. "They should strengthen international cooperation in this area to make sure that all criminals are punished." (Yonhap)