More members of a group of Chinese nationals who illegally entered by rubber boat along the coast of Jeju have been caught by police. So far, four of the six have been arrested, and a search and pursuit are underway for the remaining two.
On the 9th, Jeju Western Police Station said it arrested a Chinese national in his 40s, identified as A, at about 6:30 p.m. the previous day at a motel in Seogwipo on suspicion of violating the Immigration Control Act. A is being held in a detention cell and questioned. Police are also investigating the background of their illegal entry and whether they were involved in an organized operation.
On the afternoon of the 7th, they set out from Nantong, Jiangsu province, China, loaded a rubber boat with a 90-horsepower outboard motor and an electric thruster, a large quantity of fuel cans, fishing rods, and life jackets, and sailed 460 kilometers to arrive at a coastal area near Yongsu-ri, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju, on the morning of the 8th.
The rubber boat was found after a resident reported it, and all those on board had already fled. They are believed to have disembarked from the rubber boat and scattered to various parts of Jeju. Initially, A expressed an intent to turn himself in as the Coast Guard's investigation net tightened, then went into hiding.
Earlier, at about 9:30 a.m. on the 10th, a Chinese national in his 30s, identified as B, one of the illegal entrants, came to Seogwipo Police Station and turned himself in. At about 6:10 p.m. on the 9th, a Chinese illegal entrant in his 30s, identified as C, and an accomplice in her 30s, identified as D, were caught at a dwellings in Yeon-dong, Jeju City, followed by the arrest of a Chinese national in his 40s, identified as E, at about 6:30 p.m. on the 8th at a lodging facility in Seogwipo.