President Lee vows after extradition of 'drug kingpin': "We will hunt down anyone who harms our people to the ends of the earth"

The Financial News reported that President Lee Jae Myung of South Korea on the 25th hailed the sudden extradition to South Korea of a man surnamed Park, who had been imprisoned in the Republic of the Philippines and was known by the nickname "Jeon Segye" and dubbed a "drug kingpin." Lee declared, "We will hunt down and capture anyone who harms the people of the Republic of Korea, even if we must pursue them to the ends of the earth."
President Lee wrote this on his X (social network), formerly Twitter, as he shared a news article about Park’s extradition to South Korea.
In particular, President Lee stated, "On behalf of the people of the Republic of Korea, I would like to express my deep gratitude to President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr. of the Republic of the Philippines for the cooperation between Korea and the Philippines (Han-Phil) in the name of friendship and justice."
Earlier, during his state visit to the Republic of the Philippines in March, President Lee personally requested the provisional extradition of Park in his summit meeting with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.
Presidential Spokesperson Kang Yu-jung explained in a written briefing that, "As a result of the decisive summit diplomacy demonstrated by President Lee, an extradition process that had been deadlocked for more than nine years was resolved in just one month."
Kang noted that, "Park is a key figure in the 2016 'Sugarcane Field Murder' case in which three Koreans were killed in the Republic of the Philippines, and he is suspected of having continued to run organized crime operations, including large-scale drug distribution into South Korea, even while imprisoned there."
She went on to say, "Despite repeated diplomatic and judicial efforts, Park’s extradition had been stalled for more than nine years. Its success is the result of President Lee’s strong determination to eradicate transnational crime and his diplomatic efforts," adding, "Park’s extradition demonstrates the government’s firm resolve to ensure that criminals hiding overseas will inevitably pay the price for their crimes."
Kang added, "The government will, immediately upon Park’s transfer, thoroughly uncover all of his criminal activities and relentlessly track down his accomplices and criminal proceeds to bring them to stern justice," and continued, "Going forward, the government will respond to transnational crimes under a principle of zero tolerance, and will further strengthen international cooperation networks so that criminals have nowhere to hide anywhere on the planet."
Meanwhile, on the same day, the Special Task Force on Transnational Crimes (TF) received Park under provisional extradition from the Republic of the Philippines. Provisional extradition is a measure under Article 5(2) of the Treaty on Extradition between the Republic of Korea and the Republic of the Philippines, whereby the requested state, the Republic of the Philippines, temporarily surrenders a suspect to the requesting state, the Republic of Korea, by suspending its own trial or sentence enforcement so that criminal proceedings can move forward in the requesting state.
The government stated, "Going forward, with the Special Task Force on Transnational Crimes at the center, we will relentlessly track and strictly punish transnational crimes such as drug offenses that threaten our people, and we will respond firmly and sternly until they are completely eradicated."
cjk@fnnews.com Choi Jong-geun Reporter