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Three men convicted of killing Korean tourist in Thailand given lengthy sentences

Published: 16 Jan. 2025, 17:52

Thai police and divers on May 11, 2024, retrieve the body of a Korean tourist stuffed in a black plastic barrel that had been submerged in a reservoir in Pattaya, Thailand, in a screen capture from Thai news media. [JOONGANG ILBO]

The three men convicted of murdering a Korean tourist in Thailand and dumping the mutilated body in a reservoir were sentenced to prison in their first trial on Thursday.

The killers, one in his 40s and two in their 20s, kidnapped and murdered the tourist — a man in his 30s identified by his family name of Roh — in Pattaya and abandoned the victim’s body in a local reservoir after shoving it into a barrel.

The Changwon District Court sentenced the 27-year-old to 25 years in prison, the 40-year-old to 30 years and the 28-year-old to life on charges of robbery, murder and hiding the body. All three were also ordered to wear ankle GPS bracelets for 10 years.

During the final trial last December, the prosecution requested the death penalty for both the 28-year-old and the 40-year-old and life imprisonment for the 27-year-old.

“During the 55 minutes it took to transport the victim to the destination, the victim was assaulted for the majority of the time,” said the judge. “Anyone could foresee that such prolonged and simultaneous assaults could lead to death, such as organ rupture.”

"After the killing, tools to dismember the body were preemptively prepared to conceal the crime before carrying it out."

Roh entered Thailand for travel purposes on April 30 last year.

His mother received a threatening phone call on May 7, demanding a ransom of 3 million Thai baht ($86,760), or 126 million won. The blackmailer reportedly told the mother that Roh had caused them great losses by "throwing away drugs" and told her to come up with the ransom or else her son would "lose his life."

The kidnappers reportedly threatened to dismember Roh and sell his organs on the black market if the money was not paid by May 8. The mother immediately reported the situation to the Korean embassy in Thailand, who then requested cooperation from Thai police.

The two murderers in their 20s were captured in May — one was arrested in Korea while the other was caught in Cambodia and later extradited to Korea in July.

Vietnamese law enforcement raided the 40-year-old suspect’s hideout and apprehended him on Sept. 12. The suspect was extradited to Korea on Sept. 24.

The victims' families appealed for the disclosure of these individuals’ identities on Thursday.

"After my younger sibling was brutally assaulted and killed in a foreign country, our father passed away and our mother is now unable to lead a normal life,” said Roh’s older sister. “Our family’s life has been completely shattered."

"I earnestly hope that institutional and legal measures will be established to allow the disclosure of information about these individuals."

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]