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Justice Ministry vows to recover ill-gotten gains from notorious Korean 'drug kingpin'

Published: 25 Mar. 2026, 13:27 Updated: 25 Mar. 2026, 13:37

Park Wang-yeol, known as a “drug kingpin,” arrives at San Jose Airport in the Philippines on March 25. [MINISTRY OF JUSTICE]

The Ministry of Justice vowed Wednesday to recover criminal proceeds from a notorious Korean drug trafficker who was temporarily extradited from the Philippines, where he had been convicted of multiple murders.

Park Wang-yeol, who has been serving a 60-year prison sentence in the Philippines for murdering three Koreans in 2016, arrived back home in handcuffs earlier in the day to face police investigation on drug trafficking charges.

The 48-year-old, known as a "drug kingpin," is accused of smuggling drugs into Korea using Telegram while serving his prison sentence in the Philippines since 2022.

"[We] plan to identify the drug trafficking organization the suspect was involved in, and thoroughly investigate and recoup criminal proceeds the suspect attained through drug transactions," a ministry official said in a briefing.

In plain clothes and a baseball cap, Park was surrounded by dozens of police and ministry officials as he left Incheon International Airport, following his arrival aboard an Asiana Airlines flight.

Park did not respond to reporters' questions about his crimes but appeared to point at one of them at the scene.

A police official said they have identified multiple accomplices linked to Park, noting they plan to analyze his mobile phone and seek a warrant for his formal arrest.

Park's extradition comes about three weeks after President Lee Jae Myung requested Manila's cooperation during summit talks with Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.

The ministry said Manila had initially denied its extradition request in 2017, but it ultimately secured his temporary repatriation after multiple rounds of working-level talks.

Park had earlier fled to the Philippines after running pyramid schemes in Korea. He operated a casino business there before murdering the three Koreans who had been on the run for illegal fundraising.

Yonhap