All six Chinese nationals who illegally entered Jeju by rubber boat have been caught.
On the 12th, the Jeju Coast Guard arrested a Chinese man in his 30s, identified as A, on suspicion of violating the Immigration Control Act. After entering Jeju, A left for the mainland by boat and went into hiding at a friend's studio apartment in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province.
With this, all six Chinese men and women who illegally entered on the early morning of the 8th via the coast of Yongsu-ri, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City, aboard a rubber boat equipped with a 90-horsepower engine after departing on the afternoon of the 7th from Nantong, Jiangsu Province, in southeastern China, have been apprehended.
The Coast Guard found that, although they did not know each other, they each paid millions of won to a Chinese broker, illegally entered, then scattered and overstayed to make money.
Earlier, around 7:56 a.m. on the 8th, the Coast Guard received a resident report of an unidentified rubber boat near the women divers' changing room on the coast of Yongsu-ri, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City. The rubber boat was found to contain 12 fuel cans, six life jackets, emergency rations such as bread labeled in Chinese, and fishing rods.
Of the other five Chinese nationals (four men and one woman) who illegally entered with A and were caught that day, three are under arrest. Two Chinese female facilitators who assisted them in Jeju were also apprehended.
A joint investigation by the Coast Guard, police, and military authorities found no indications of espionage or other national security concerns. The Coast Guard plans to question them about how they illegally entered.