Korean executed in China for drug trafficking is 3rd in 1 week

China executed a 55-year-old Korean man surnamed Jang for drug trafficking yesterday, a day after carrying out capital punishment on two other Korean men for similar charges Wednesday, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs here.

Jang was arrested in June 2009 in Qingdao, Shandong Province, eastern China, by officials for trafficking and selling 11.9 kilograms (26.2 pounds) of methamphetamine. He was sentenced to death in a Qingdao court in May 2012. The ruling was upheld in a Shandong higher court in June last year.

On Aug. 1, Chinese officials informed the Korean consulate in Qingdao that Jang’s execution was scheduled for this week. The executions of the three Korean men were carried out despite Seoul’s plea for clemency to Chinese authorities on humanitarian grounds. Jang is the fifth Korean to be executed in China.