Two Kazakhstanis on the run after fleeing Incheon airport

Korean Air and Asiana Airlines airplanes parked at Incheon International Airport on March 12 [YONHAP]

Police are searching for two Kazakhstanis who fled Incheon International Airport on Sunday morning after they were denied entry into the country because their purpose for visiting was unclear.

Incheon International Airport Police and the Incheon Immigration Office identified the two individuals as an 18-year-old man and 21-year-old man.

Police and immigration authorities claim the pair climbed over a fence near the airport’s runway at around 4:20 a.m. and ran away.

The two were expected to be forcibly repatriated on Sunday afternoon.

After being denied entry to Korea on Friday morning, they were sent to a waiting room at the airport’s Terminal 2 for their flight back home, staying there until their escape Sunday. They broke the airport's glass window to flee the building.

The 21-year-old was wearing jeans and a blue jacket while holding a black bag in his hand, while the 18-year-old wore a black jacket and black pants with a black backpack.

The counter terrorism team at the airport immediately dispatched patrol cars and checked CCTV footage after an intrusion sensor rang at around 4:18 a.m. Sunday. Police arrived at the scene in about six to 12 minutes, but there were no signs of the fugitives by the time they arrived.

According to Incheon International Airport Corporation, the 3.6-meter (12-feet) fence that the two foreigners climbed over is equipped with three levels of security: barbed wire, an infrared security system and intrusion detection sensor.

Incheon International Airport Corporation said Sunday it will strengthen security and patrols at the airport, as well as inspect and improve facilities that are vulnerable in terms of security.

Incheon International Airport has recently come under harsh criticism for lax security.

On March 16, a live bullet was found in a trash can at the airport, while two other bullets were found on a Korean Air aircraft which was to take off from Incheon to Manila on March 10.

Critics say security might be lax because the airport’s security is managed by an airport subsidiary, not a governmental organization.

“In the case of the United States, people who do security screenings at the airport are employees from the Transportation Security Administration,” said Hwang Ho-won, the head of the Korea Association for Aviation Security.

“But Incheon International Airport has a limitation in that a subsidiary company is in charge of the entire security of the airport.”

BY SON SUNG-BAE, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]