A, the ringleader of a drug trafficking organization that sold hundreds of millions of won worth of narcotics through Telegram and other social media channels, was sentenced to five years in prison in a first-instance ruling in 2024. The day after the verdict, however, A was temporarily released after his attorney filed for a suspension of detention, citing a family funeral. A failed to return by the specified deadline. The appellate trial ultimately proceeded in his absence, and the court again handed down a prison sentence.
The problem of so-called "unenforced custodial sentence fugitives," convicts who evade imprisonment despite having their sentences finalized, is growing. The number fleeing overseas is rising rapidly, increasing the burden on judicial authorities.
According to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office on Tuesday, 1,313 fugitives with unenforced custodial sentences were staying abroad last year. That marks a roughly 48.5% increase from 884 in 2021. The figure has risen steadily each year, reaching 928 in 2022, 1,014 in 2023 and 1,146 in 2024.
The total number of unenforced cases is also expanding. New cases rose from 3,378 in 2021 to 3,570 in 2022 and 3,810 in 2023, surpassing 4,000 for the first time last year at 4,036. Including previously uncaught fugitives, the total reached 6,423.
Analysts attribute the trend to a strengthened policy favoring non-detention trials. In 2021, the National Court Administration revised its "Guidelines for Handling Personal Detention Affairs" to require courts to order detention only when such necessity is clearly established. The rate of arrest warrants issued by courts nationwide subsequently fell from 82.0% in 2021 to 76.9% in 2024.
The challenge is that arrest difficulty rises sharply as more fugitives flee abroad. Once a defendant leaves the country, domestic investigative agencies cannot immediately compel their return and must go through international cooperation or extradition procedures. The process is time-consuming and costly, and its success depends on the cooperation of the foreign country.
Sun Jong-koo, former chairman of Lotte Himart, is a prominent example of a fugitive abroad following a Supreme Court ruling. Sun, whose five-year prison sentence for breach of trust was finalized, left the country shortly after the final ruling in August 2021 and is reportedly currently in Cambodia. The Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors' Office requested Sun's extradition in 2024, but Cambodia reportedly balked, linking the issue to the repatriation of Cambodian anti-government figures residing in Korea.
Enforcement results are also weakening. The execution rate for unenforced custodial sentences fell from 62.0% in 2023 to 60.1% in 2024 and 58.0% last year. Long-term unenforced cases, in which sentences have gone unexecuted for three years or more, rose from 169 in 2024 to 192 last year.
Concerns about an enforcement gap from upcoming institutional changes are also being raised. Legal circles warn that the system for handling unenforced custodial sentences could weaken following the abolition of the Prosecution Service in October. Under current law, prosecutors hold the authority to arrest such fugitives, but the Public Prosecution Act does not clearly define investigators' status as judicial police officers. Without separate legislation, the legal basis for executing warrants could become unclear, critics say.
Adding to the concerns is discussion of abolishing the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Intelligence Division, which has been responsible for gathering information used to arrest unenforced custodial sentence fugitives.
"When fugitives flee abroad, even locating them is not easy, making arrests considerably difficult," a prosecution official said. "If enforcement capabilities weaken amid the expansion of non-detention trials, we could see situations where criminals with finalized prison sentences evade punishment for extended periods."
