March 25, 2026
SEOUL – South Korea repatriated a jailed Korean drug kingpin from the Philippines on Wednesday to face domestic charges after more than nine years of stalled efforts.
The transfer came about three weeks after President Lee Jae Myung personally asked Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. for the temporary surrender of Park Wang-yeol, a Korean national once dubbed the “Telegram drug kingpin” during their summit on March 4 in Manila.
“Park’s repatriation, which had faced difficulties for more than nine years despite repeated diplomatic and judicial efforts, is the result of President Lee Jae Myung’s strong determination to eradicate transnational crime and diplomatic efforts,” presidential spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a statement.
“The government will thoroughly uncover all criminal acts as soon as Park is transferred into custody and will track down accomplices and criminal proceeds to the end and strictly punish them,” Kang added.
Kang also said, “Park’s repatriation shows the government’s strong determination to make even criminals hiding overseas pay the price.”
In a separate statement, South Korea’s Transnational Crime Special Response Task Force said the transfer was the outcome of a joint government effort and close consultations with Philippine authorities following Lee’s request. The task force consists of the Justice Ministry, Foreign Ministry, National Intelligence Service, prosecution and police.
The task force said it planed to “immediately hand Park over to investigative authorities and pursue strict legal action following a thorough investigation.”
Park was sentenced by a Philippine court in April 2022 to a prison term of 52 to 60 years, over deaths of three South Koreans in a sugarcane field in Bacolor, Pampanga province.
“Even while serving that sentence, Park remained at the center of controversy over allegations that he continued to distribute drugs into Korea and lived a lavish life in prison,” the task force said.
South Korean media have reported that Park allegedly continued to oversee a large-scale drug trafficking network through the messaging app Telegram and was living a so-called “privileged prison life,” including the use of mobile phone
According to the task force, Park is suspected of orchestrating the smuggling of large quantities of drugs from the Philippines into South Korea through accomplices, and distributing them on the domestic market.
“The government pushed for Park’s swift repatriation on the grounds that leaving his crimes — including drug distribution in Korea — unchecked would undermine judical justice and risk encouraging copycat crimes by other inmates held overseas,” the task force said.
“The government will uncover the full scope of the drug trafficking organization Park was involved in, while thoroughly tracing and recovering any criminal proceeds obtained through the operation.”
This is not the first such case. South Korea temporarily secured the surrender of Kim Seong-gon from the Philippines in 2015. Kim had been wanted on suspicion of killing a female clerk at a money exchange office in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, in July 2007. South Korea later obtained his final extradition in January 2025 with the consent of the Philippine government.
Cheong Wa Dae spokesperson Kang underscored that “the government will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach to transnational crime and further tighten international cooperation networks to ensure that criminals have nowhere on earth to hide.”