Home > National > Social Affairs

Police arrest two for allegedly making illegal guns to hunt pigeons

Published: 29 Apr. 2026, 12:30 Updated: 29 Apr. 2026, 19:22

A police logo on an occupational uniform [JOONGANG ILBO]

Police arrested two Thai nationals for allegedly making guns and using them to hunt pigeons “to eat them," the Iksan Police Precinct said on Wednesday.

The pair, who are currently in the custody of immigration authorities after it was determined that they were in Korea illegally, face charges of violating the Act on the Safety Management of Guns, Swords, and Explosives and the Immigration Act, according to the police. The men are likely to be subject to deportation.

The duo is accused of using homemade air guns to capture pigeons in a bamboo grove in Yongan-myeon in Iksan, North Jeolla, on March 16.

Officers were dispatched after a report was made claiming to have heard gunshots. The pair fled upon spotting the police, abandoning their vehicle and air guns at the scene.

After identifying the suspects, the police tracked and arrested one of them at an apple orchard in Cheongsong County, North Gyeongsang, on March 27, and the other at a farm in Buyeo County, South Chungcheong, on April 21.

The men reportedly told police they “had hunted the pigeons to eat them.”

“We will continue to crack down on the manufacturing and possession of illegal weapons, including homemade guns,” a police official said.

BY KIM EUN-BIN [[email protected]]