More than half of criminal suspects who fled Korea to escape punishment are still at large, according to a Justice Ministry report released by Rep. Lee Sang-min of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy.
The report said 3,890 suspects fled overseas after perpetrating crimes in South Korea over the past five years. Of them, 2,175, or 55.8 percent, have yet to be apprehended.
China was the most popular spot for the fugitives with 707 suspects having fled there, followed by the U.S. with 584, the Philippines with 283, Japan with 224 and Hong Kong with 165. By the types of crimes, fraud topped the list with 1,390 cases, followed by embezzlement with 249 and drug use with 149.
