Almost every 6th fugitive on South Korea’s wanted list is Uzbek — police
Nineteen Uzbek nationals wanted for crimes abroad were residing in South Korea as of August 12, making Uzbekistan the second most represented nationality among 110 foreign fugitives identified by the country’s police, according to official data.
The Korean National Police Agency provided the figures for Kim Jun-hwan of the ruling Democratic Party.
Chinese nationals accounted for the largest group, with 40 fugitives subject to Interpol notices, followed by 19 Uzbeks and 17 Mongolians.
The data did not specify the alleged offences or the individual identities of the Uzbek nationals.
Fraud was the most common alleged crime among the 110 foreign fugitives, accounting for 47 cases. Another 29 cases were classified as other offences, including kidnapping, confinement and sex trafficking. The remaining cases involved drug offences, theft, traffic violations and assault.
South Korea expands fugitive tracking
South Korean authorities have expanded their efforts to identify and repatriate foreign fugitives as cross-border crime cases become a greater focus of international law enforcement.
The Korean National Police Agency increased the number of personnel dedicated to tracking international fugitives from 22 to 64 this year. Authorities repatriated 24 foreign fugitives between January and August, compared with 13 during the whole of last year.
Police also said closer cooperation with foreign authorities had contributed to more arrests and repatriations of South Korean fugitives abroad. China, for example, returned 192 South Korean fugitives last year, according to the data.
The figures come as Uzbekistan and South Korea continue to expand cooperation across a range of political and economic areas. Uzbek and South Korean officials held political consultations in Tashkent in June, discussing deeper cooperation in trade, investment, transport, healthcare and education.
In August, senior economic officials from both countries also discussed supply chains, investment and development projects ahead of the Korea-Central Asia Summit. Bilateral trade reached $971 mn in the first half of 2026, up 22.4% from a year earlier, according to South Korea’s finance ministry.
The Korean National Police Agency has not publicly disclosed whether authorities have begun proceedings to detain or repatriate any of the 19 Uzbek nationals identified in the data.
