Nine Vietnamese illegally staying in RoK are not members of NA delegation

Hanoi (VNA) – The National Assembly’s Office has said it is working with relevant agencies to verify and handle the case of nine Vietnamese who illegally stayed in the Republic of Korea (RoK) after attending a Vietnam-RoK investment and trade forum.

The NA’s Office unveiled this information after Korean media outlets reported on September 23 that nine of the members of the Vietnamese NA working delegation to the RoK last December ran away to illegally stay in the RoK.

Secretary General of the NA and Head of the NA’s Office Nguyen Hanh Phuc said, according to initial information, the nine people were members of a Vietnamese business delegation who came to the RoK to attend a Vietnam-RoK investment and trade forum jointly held by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Korean Embassy in Vietnam, and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. They were not members of the Vietnamese NA working delegation, he stressed.

Visas were granted to those people to attend the forum, Phuc said, adding that to facilitate their attendance at the event, the business delegation was allowed to travel on the same flight with the NA working delegation.

Before the business delegation returned home, competent agencies found that nine of its members ran away, intentionally staying illegally in the RoK.

At that time, the Vietnamese NA’s Office sent documents to with the Ministries of Public Security, Planning and Investment, and Foreign Affairs, asking them to coordinate with the Vietnamese Embassy in the RoK and local authorities bring them back to Vietnam.

Two of the nine people have been repatriated, Phuc said, adding that Vietnamese agencies are working with the Korean side to find the seven remainders to deport them to Vietnam./.