Suspect arrested in Cambodia in connection to murder of Korean tourist in Thailand

A man in his 20s, one of three suspects alleged to have murdered a Korean tourist in Thailand, was apprehended by police in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said the National Police Agency on Tuesday.

A suspect accused of murdering a Korean national in Pattaya, Thailand, is transferred to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, on Monday for further questioning. He was apprehended at his residence in North Jeolla. [YONHAP]

A man in his 20s, one of three suspects alleged to have murdered a Korean tourist in Thailand, was apprehended by police in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, said the National Police Agency on Tuesday.

Korea’s National Police Agency announced that the 27-year-old man was arrested in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, at 12:10 a.m. on Tuesday through cooperation with local authorities. They tracked him down after receiving intelligence that a Korean man resembling the suspect was seen near the area around 9 p.m. on Monday.

Two of the three suspects accused of murdering a 34-year-old Korean man in Pattaya, Thailand, earlier this month have now been apprehended.

The police had been working with Korean police officers dispatched in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar to track the suspect’s location after discovering that he had fled to Cambodia.

The police had requested Interpol’s assistance to search for the suspect and were issued a red notice on Sunday.

The suspect is currently detained in a Cambodian police station. The National Police Agency plans to cooperate with Cambodian and Thai authorities to discuss his extradition. Once extradited, he will be transported to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency for investigation.

On Sunday, a suspect in his 20s was apprehended at his residence in North Jeolla.

The police are working with local authorities to track down the last remaining accomplice, known to have fled to a neighboring country of Thailand.

Over the weekend, Thai police discovered the body of the Korean man inside a cement-filled black plastic barrel in a reservoir in Pattaya, Thailand, after his mother received a blackmail call on May 7 from an unidentified individual demanding a ransom of 3 million Thai baht ($83,000), equivalent to about 112 million won.

According to police, CCTV footage revealed that the victim was escorted by two Korean men in a rental car and later got into a pickup truck in Pattaya around 2 a.m. on May 3.

On May 4, the pickup truck was reportedly seen leaving their lodging with a black object loaded in the vehicle's cargo bed. The truck headed to a reservoir in Pattaya, where they spent approximately an hour.

Subsequently, authorities, along with divers, located the victim’s body in the barrel in the reservoir.

BY WOO JI-WON [woo.jiwon@joongang.co.kr]