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Massage parlor operators convicted for attaching GPS trackers to immigration enforcement team vehicles

Published: 07 Jul. 2025, 21:07

An image of a statue of Justitia, the goddess of justice [KOREA JOONGANG DAILY]

Two massage parlor operators have been found guilty of attaching GPS trackers to Justice Ministry vehicles in an attempt to avoid crackdowns after illegally hiring foreign workers.

The Busan District Court sentenced both defendants to one year and two months in prison, suspended for two years. The court also ordered 120 hours of community service for each and confiscated two GPS tracking devices used in the crime, according to an announcement Monday.

The two were charged with violating the Act on the Protection and Use of Location Information for attaching tracking devices to vehicles used by the Busan Immigration Office's enforcement team in May and June of 2019.

One of the defendants purchased a GPS tracker from a store in Suyeong District, Busan, and handed it to the other. The second defendant then went to the immigration office parking lot and attached the device beneath a spare tire on a vehicle belonging to the regional crackdown team.

They used a mobile GPS tracking app to monitor the location of the enforcement vehicle and immigration officials through Feb. 7, 2020.

“The defendants secretly installed a GPS tracker on an official government vehicle to evade on-site inspections and collected the real-time locations of public officials,” said the court. “The crime was brazen and audacious to a degree that is difficult to imagine — and the nature of the offense is egregious.”

“Acts that interfere with or mislead official enforcement activities must be dealt with strictly to uphold the rule of law and prevent further erosion of public authority," read the ruling.

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]