10 charged in illegal immigration scheme
Alleged to have fraudulently applied for asylum on behalf of 35 Chinese

Prosecutors say they have exposed a criminal ring that involves undocumented Chinese on the island, the asylum system, an insider at the immigration office, and over 100 million won.

The Jeju District Prosecutor's Office has arrested and charged four people for recruiting undocumented Chinese who wanted to stay here longer. The four includes the alleged head of the operation, a 47-year-old surnamed Kim. Authorities have also charged another six people without detention. That group includes a 60-year-old former immigration officer surnamed Lim who had handled asylum applications, as well as five ethnic Koreans from China. They are alleged to have handled translation, interpretation, and paperwork for the scheme.

Authorities say the group received 3 to 5 million won per individual from 35 Chinese nationals who had overstayed on the island. In return, they allegedly cleaned up the records of those people and applied for asylum status for them. Prosecutors say they ran the scheme for one year beginning in February 2016.

Authorities say they attempted to game the system, which allows asylum seekers to legally stay in Korea for a year and a half while their applications are being evaluated. They say they will continue their investigations into the case.

'난민신청' 신분 세탁 브로커 조직 적발

중국인 불법체류자들을 대상으로 난민신청 제도를 악용해 신분을 세탁해온 브로커 조직이 검찰에 적발됐습니다.

제주지방검찰청은 제주지역 허위 난민신청 브로커 총책인 47살 김 모씨와 모집책 등 4명을 구속기소하고 허위 난민신청 절차를 총괄한 출입국공무원 출신 행정사 60살 임 모씨와 통번역, 서류작성 등을 담당한 조선족 5명 등 6명을 불구속 기소했다고 밝혔습니다.

검찰에 따르면 이들은 지난해 2월부터 1년동안 중국인 불법체류자 35명에게 개인당 300만원에서 500만원을 받고 허위 난민신청과 행정소송 절차까지 대행해 준 혐의를 받고 있습니다.

검찰은 난민신청 심사기간 1년 6개월 정도 합법적으로 체류할 수 있는 절차를 악용한 것으로 보고 지속적으로 수사에 나설 예정입니다.