Korean wanted by Interpol caught in Da Nang

By Ngoc Truong   March 9, 2024 | 12:30 am PT
Korean wanted by Interpol caught in Da Nang
Im Ju Seob at a police station in Da Nang. Photo by VnExpress/Bao Nam
Vietnam police have arrested and extradited a South Korean man wanted by Interpol for running an online gambling ring in his home country.

Da Nang city police, in coordination with the Ministry of Public Security's Foreign Affairs Department, handed over Im Ju Seob, 53, to South Korean authorities for extradition on Friday.

Im was under a red notice by the Interpol for managing an illegal South Korean gambling website called Sinshgye (ss-odd.com), with servers located in the Philippines. The site was operational from early 2017 to the end of 2019.

An Interpol red notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action. It is not an international arrest warrant, but rather an international alert used to inform member countries about individuals sought for prosecution, or convicts sought to serve a sentence.

According to police, Im fled Korea and entered Vietnam through Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City. He stayed in the city for some time before moving to Da Nang in mid-February.

He was soon detected and monitored by the police in central coastal city.

On Feb. 25, Da Nang City Police apprehended him at a hotel in Ngu Hanh Son District.

At the police station, Im confessed to operating the gambling website that accumulated a total online bet money at over 44.3 billion won (US$33.6 million).

Since 2022, Da Nang police have arrested ten wanted foreigners, nine of them South Koreans and the other Chinese.

The most recent case before Im's was on Sept. 10 last year, when police arrested South Korean Kil Jinhong, 48, a suspect in a bank robbery in his home country. He had used a fire extinguisher to spray a bank employee in the face. He had escaped after stealing 39 million Won.

 
 
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