President Lee Requests Temporary Extradition of Korean 'Drug Lord' From Philippines

President Lee Jae-myung announced on the 4th (local time) that he officially requested the temporary extradition of Park Wang-yeol, a Korean "drug lord" imprisoned in the Philippines, to President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr.

President Lee made the remarks while attending a meeting with Korean residents in Manila, the final event of his state visit to the Philippines. "One of the problems you face seems to be public safety issues," he said.

President Lee first addressed scam crimes that have spread recently, particularly in Southeast Asia. "We formed a special team and invested an excessive amount of manpower and budget to combat crimes targeting Korean nationals," he said. "We showed that anyone who messes with Korean citizens will face ruin."

He continued, "The damage to local Korean residents seems to be continuously increasing in the Philippines," and disclosed that he had requested the temporary extradition of Park Wang-yeol, known as the "drug lord," to President Marcos.

"There's a Korean man called Park Wang-yeol who allegedly killed three Koreans, and he is reportedly still exporting drugs to Korea from inside prison," President Lee said. "I said we need to bring him to Korea for investigation."

Regarding the late Ji Ik-ju, who was killed by Philippine police 10 years ago, President Lee also revealed that he asked authorities to "catch the real culprit quickly." He explained, "Philippine authorities said they would try to catch the main suspect in that case, and Korea is also considering whether to deploy special capabilities to apprehend them and make an all-out effort."