Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.
Hagwon English instructor turned out to be gangster
By Kwon Mee-yoo
A Korean-Canadian murder suspect has been found to have been working in Korea as a teacher at private English-language institutes in Seoul.
The foreign affairs division of the National Police Agency (NPA) said Thursday they apprehended a 25-year-old Korean-Canadian identified only as Ye.
According to the police, he was a member of a gang and he had shot a drug trafficker to death in Toronto with his friends some of whom were of Korean descent in May 2007. They also stole some 18 kilograms of marijuana, worth CAD$60,000, police said.
After committing the crime, he escaped to Korea and worked as an English instructor in private institutes in Cheongdam-dong and Mok-dong. His four accomplices were all caught in Canada — two have been imprisoned, while the others are awailting sentencing.
However, he was listed on the Interpol Red Notice and the Seoul High Court issued an arrest warrant for him in August 2009. Ye finally turned himself in to police Wednesday.
The police will investigate him on charges of Immigration Law violation, while the Seoul court will make a final decision on the extradition of Ye. He will be charged with first degree murder under Canadian criminal law.