A group of Chinese nationals accused of assaulting and confining two female tourists of the same nationality at a rental house on Jeju and robbing them of about 20 million won ($14,400) has been arrested by police. Three of the five suspects have been detained, while the other two left the country before the crime was reported and are being tracked by police.
Seogwipo Police Station said on the 28th that it had detained three Chinese nationals — two in their 20s and one in their 30s — on charges including aggravated robbery and violation of the Punishment of Violences Act.
According to police, the suspects entered Jeju from China in stages between the 20th and 21st, and are accused of assaulting and confining two Chinese female tourists at a detached rental lodging in Saekdal-dong, Seogwipo, at about 2:30 p.m. on the 21st.
During the incident, they allegedly seized the victims' mobile phones and tablet computers and transferred 100,000 yuan (about 20 million won) from a banking app account to another account.
The case came to police attention the following day. At about 3 p.m. on the 22nd, one of the victims managed to escape from the rental house and asked a staff member at the lodging for help, prompting a call to the 112 emergency line.
Police deployed detectives and arrested two of the suspects who remained at the rental house that day. At about 7 p.m. the same day, they arrested another accomplice who was attempting to board a flight to China at the departure area of Jeju International Airport. The accomplice was found to have been trying to leave the country on a flight scheduled to depart at about 7:30 p.m.
The remaining two accomplices, however, were found to have already left the country by air on the morning of the 22nd, before the case was reported to police. Police are tracking the whereabouts of the two Chinese nationals, one in their 20s and one in their 30s, who fled abroad.
The three arrested in South Korea were all placed in detention around the 24th. They are reported to have denied all related charges during police questioning.
Police are working to determine how the suspects and the victims came to meet and the specific circumstances of the crime, while also investigating whether they committed any additional offenses.
