Korean police closely cooperates with Interpol

The Interpol department of the Korean National Police Agency travels around the world to track and catch criminals who fled to other countries 24/7. Police cooperates closely with 190 members of Interpol to find criminals who fled Korea.

For this, Kang Shin-myung, the chief of the agency, visited major countries where many Korean criminals fled and signed an agreement with the countries. Last month, he visited Chinese police in Beijing and promised to strengthen cooperation in jointly cracking down criminals who fled their country. In addition, he went to the immigration agency of the Philippines and signed an agreement on extraditing Korean criminals upon their entering the Philippines in Nov. last year.

The number of criminals who were sent back to Korea shows an upward trend, increasing from 74 in 2011 to 216 last year. Police continues to make efforts to break its last year’s record. A 40-year-old man who operated a gambling website that managed around 70 billion won (57.5 million US dollars) fled to the Philippines in Jan. However, he was rejected in entering the country and extradited to Korea. A 45-year old former start-up CEO who did securities fraud sneaked into China, but he was caught in six years and sent back to Korea in Jan.

Interpol is an international organization where member countries exchange criminal information and cooperate in the arrest and delivery of criminals to the extent allowed by their local law to prevent and crack down on international crime. Korea joined Interpol in September 1964. The Interpol department of Korean police also manages criminals wanted by Interpol and takes part in an investigation requiring global cooperation. “As the number of criminals fleeing abroad is on the rise, the workload of the Interpol investigation team increased significantly,” said Kim Byeong-joo, the section chief of the Interpol department. “However, we are doing our best with a strong sense of responsibility that we must catch criminals.”

박훈상기자 tigermask@donga.com