An arrest warrant for Dong Guangping, 68, a Chinese dissident who crossed the Yellow Sea in a rubber boat and entered Korean territorial waters before being caught off the coast of Taean, South Chungcheong, was dismissed on the 28th. The court determined it was hard to see a risk of flight or evidence destruction.
Seok Ji-seong, a warrant judge at the Seosan Branch of the Daejeon District Court, dismissed the arrest warrant after holding a pre-arrest suspect interrogation (substantive warrant review) for Dong Guangping, who is suspected of violating the Immigration Act.
Judge Seok said, "It is difficult to recognize the reasons, necessity and reasonableness for detention," adding, "It is hard to view there is a concern of fleeing or destroying evidence."
The Taean Coast Guard is said to be consulting with related agencies on how to handle Dong Guangping's custody after the warrant was dismissed. The possibility of transferring him to a foreigner detention center is also being discussed.
At about 9:36 p.m. on the 25th, Dong Guangping approached waters about 18 kilometers northwest of Seogyeokbido, Taean County, South Chungcheong, in a 3.3-meter-long rubber boat, when he was spotted by a fishing vessel at work. Responding to a report, the Korea Coast Guard urgently arrested him, escorted him to Sinjin Port in Taean, and has been investigating how he entered Korean territorial waters.
According to the New York Times (NYT), Dong Guangping served as a police officer and soldier in China and was dismissed from the police in 1999 for signing a memorial letter related to the Tiananmen incident. He was later detained by Chinese authorities after attending a Tiananmen memorial event in 2014 and has since been known as a leading Chinese dissident who repeatedly escaped and was forcibly repatriated while passing through Thailand and Vietnam, among other places.
Foreign media reported that Dong Guangping crossed the roughly 300-kilometer Yellow Sea from China to Korea in a rubber boat. U.S. human rights groups are urging the Korean government to halt his return to China.