Authorities here arrested 11 people Tuesday on charges of trafficking more than 100 disabled and homeless people into forced labor in the past 20 years.
According to the Korea Coast Guard, a 47-year-old man was arrested with his nephew, daughter, older brother and sister, and six other associates on charges of kidnapping, trafficking and embezzlement.
Officials report that the man had set up a motel in Gunsan, North Jeolla Province, and lured the homeless and people with disabilities into their establishment with promises of food, shelter and work.
He would then trick his victims into signing a contract, forcing them to work on fishing vessels or at fish farms on remote islands, according to police. They added that he would also steal their earnings.
Police have also found that the man put his family in charge of different aspects of the operation. His nephew brought in victims, his brother, a taxi driver, ferried the victims from the motel to the port, and his daughter kept watch over the motel.
According to police, one 47-year-old victim was forced to work on a fishing vessel in 2006, and the accused then embezzled his yearly earnings of 11 million won ($9,600).
Police report that in two years the man was able to make some 200 million won this way.
He was also found to have committed health insurance fraud, signing up his son as the beneficiary of his victim’s claims.
According to police, the suspect’s mother had taken care of some 100 people with disabilities and who were homeless since 1980. But after she passed away in 2007, he sold some 70 victims for 10 million won to 20 million won each to fishing operations and farms and forced the other 30 into labor.
By Robert Lee (
robert@heraldcorp.com)
