Heo Seong Hyun, 48, Wang Lee Hyang, 66, and Gim Chang Duok, 72, were preparing to leave the country when they were arrested, the police said Thursday.
The District 7 police received a complaint about a burglary at a villa in Phu My Hung, home to a large Korean community, last weekend and a loss of money and jewels worth more than VND2 billion (US$85,850).
The city criminal police, who took over the case, identified the three South Koreans as the suspects.
With the assistance of the Immigration Management Department, they tracked down the trio.
On Thursday a task force raided a hotel on Ly Tu Trong Street in District 1 and arrested the three as they were preparing to return to their country.
In questioning, they confessed to the police that they had rented hotels in District 7 to break into villas in Phu My Hung to steal.
On the night of May 19 they went to a villa, and while the older duo kept watch Heo broke a glass window on the side of the house to enter and opened the door for them.
The three then stole VND200 million and US$30,000 in cash, diamonds and gold from a safe.
They returned to the hotel to divide the stolen assets and went to a hotel in District 1 and were getting ready to flee Vietnam.