Hanoi (VNA) – The Hanoi People’s Court on January 7 sentenced Kang Joon-ho, a 74-year-old man from the Republic of Korea (RoK), to six years in prison for arranging illegal exit for Vietnamese citizens.

His two Vietnamese accomplices, Trinh Ba Huy, 36, residing in Hanoi’s outlying district of Chuong My and Pham Van Sang, 42, residing in Ha Dong district, were given 36 months on probation and 4 years behind bar, respectively, on the same charge.

On June 1, 2020, Hanoi's police received documents about a case involving six residents in Chuong My district who sought to fly to the RoK’s Jeju island for work on tourism visas.

Five of them admitted that on October 5, 2019, they departed for Jeju but a man named Nguyen Van Doan was denied for exit at Noi Bai International Airport. The remaining five people were later forced to return home on October 9, 2019.

They said they were introduced by Huy to fly to the RoK as tourists, then seek jobs there. 

Sang admitted that he previously helped Kang bring six others to Jeju from Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City, who then stayed there for work./.