SEOUL: China has freed on bail an additional two South Koreans. They were arrested late last year on charges of drug trafficking.
The two suspects are among 14 South Koreans who were arrested in Guangzhou on Dec. 28 on suspicion of drug trafficking. China granted bail to 12 Korean suspects in late January.
The move allows the suspects to freely meet with their families, although there are some restrictions on where they can live while on bail. The government will continue to provide necessary consular services to them and seek cooperation with (the Chinese) authorities,” Seoul’s foreign ministry said. The Koreans, who live in Guangzhou or Shenzhen, are members of a private baseball club who were going to Australia for a friendship match. They were arrested at an airport in Guangzhou before boarding a flight to Melbourne, Australia, with crystal methamphetamine.
The arrests came after China executed four South Koreans for drug offenses last year.
Smuggling, producing or trafficking more than one kilogram of opium or 50 grams of heroin or methamphetamine is subject to capital punishment in China.
The 14 arrested Koreans claimed that they had been scheduled to go to Melbourne for a “friendly baseball match.”They said that they were asked by a South Korean organizer of the planned match to take “gift bags” to Australia. The bags were found to contain more than 20 kilograms of crystal methamphetamine stitched into secret compartments.
