Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Convicted drug smuggler caught for Korea's third-largest intercepted meth haul dies
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By Jung Min-ho
A drug smuggler convicted for the third-largest intercepted haul of meth in Korea’s history has died.
According to the Busan Detention Center on Friday, the man in his 60s died at a hospital on June 12. This comes after fellow inmates found him in a critical condition on May 31.
Prison officials did not elaborate on what caused him to that condition.
But just a day earlier, the Supreme Court upheld a 30-year sentence for him for smuggling 50kg of meth into Busan from Thailand in December 2022 among other charges. The amount of the synthetic stimulant seized was estimated to have a street value of more than 165 billion won ($120 million).
According to the Busan Ilbo, a local daily that first reported the incident, he had been taking medication for depression for a while. He had reportedly hoped for a more lenient sentence from the judiciary in return for cooperation with investigations targeting his accomplices.