Police transfer Hanshin University staff to prosecution for Uzbek student deportation

Police on Tuesday transferred four Hanshin University staff members, who are accused of abducting and confining Uzbek students during their forced departure last year, to the prosecution.

Hanshin Unversity's International Affairs and Korean Language Institute in Osan, Gyeonggi [SON SUNG-BAE]

Police on Tuesday transferred four Hanshin University staff members, who are accused of abducting and confining Uzbek students during their forced departure last year, to the prosecution.

The Osan Police Precinct in Gyeonggi transferred the four Hanshin University staff members, including a professor at its International Affairs and Korean Language Institute, to the Suwon District Prosecutors’ Office without detention.

The university staff members are accused of packing the 23 students onto a bus on Nov. 27 without telling them its destination. While on the bus, the staff told the students to return to their home country or face the authorities, citing their failure to secure the minimum amount in their savings accounts to maintain their student visas.

Uzbek nationals applying for universities in the greater Seoul area need to have 10 million won ($7,260) in their bank account for at least three months to be eligible for a student visa.

Police said the staff members confiscated the students’ phones during the process and confined them on the bus with some 10 security guards on board.

The students were later dropped off at Incheon International Airport.

Of the 23 students, 22 returned home, and one student stayed in Korea due to health issues. The university purchased the flight tickets.

The accused staff members denied the accusations, saying that the forced departure was inevitable as the students were on the verge of becoming immigration offenders because their D-4 visas, offered to those at language schools, were suddenly revoked.

During the investigation, the police also transferred an immigration officer under the Justice Ministry to the prosecution. The officer is accused of being treated to meals, drinks and karaoke around 10 times by Hanshin University staff since May last year when the school was preparing to admit language studies students for the 2023 fall semester.

Police said the immigration officer issued the visas despite the students not meeting the financial requirements. The Justice Ministry also accused the officer of breach of duty.

According to the university, three students among those forced to return home came back in February and are taking classes at the university's Korean Language Institute. In June, 11 more students will return to resume their academic life in Korea.

BY SON SUNG-BAE, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]