Of the six Chinese nationals who entered visa-free through Incheon Port on Sept. 29 and then disappeared, one more has been caught by authorities.
According to the Special Investigation Unit for Immigration at the Seoul Immigration Office on the 5th, a Chinese national, A, 57, was arrested and detained on suspicion of violating the Immigration Act. The unit is investigating how A left the group and whether brokers were involved, and plans to refer the case to prosecutors soon.
The six Chinese nationals who left without permission entered not under the visa-free entry system for Chinese group tourists that took effect on Sept. 29, but through the cruise tourism landing permit system, which allows a three-day visa-free stay.
A entered Incheon Port aboard the cruise ship "Dream" on Sept. 29 and then left the group and disappeared at the chicken-and-beer festival on Wolmido in Incheon. After leaving without permission, A had been working in Pyeongchang, Gangwon, before being apprehended by the unit on the 29th of last month.
With this, the unit has secured custody of five out of the six Chinese tourists who entered through Incheon Port on Sept. 29 and left without permission.
The unit induced the voluntary appearance of one of the Chinese tourists who left the group on the 17th of last month and took the person into custody. It then apprehended one person each in Suncheon, South Jeolla, on the 20th of last month, and in Eumseong, North Chungcheong, on the 21st. On the 22nd of last month, it additionally apprehended one Chinese tourist who turned themselves in at Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang.
Ban Jae-yeol, commissioner of the Seoul Immigration Office, said, "We will continue to track down the remaining one person to the end," adding, "To expand people-to-people exchanges between Korea and China, it is important to make efforts to respect each other and abide by the rule of law."