China on Friday decided to free on bail 12 of the 14 South Koreans under detention on charges of drug trafficking, allowing them to be investigated without physical detention, a Seoul official said.
However, the Chinese law enforcement authorities will continue to detain the other two South Koreans involved in the case, a South Korean foreign ministry official said, requesting that he not be identified.
“We were informed that bail will be allowed for the 12 Koreans,” the official told reporters, disclosing that the Seoul government had earlier requested China investigate the suspects without detention.
The official said China has not revealed its reasons for the decision, adding that Beijing seems to be speeding the case’s proceedings.
The move will allow the suspects to freely meet with their families, although there are some restrictions on where they can reside while on bail, he said.
The Koreans, who live in Guangzhou or Shenzhen, are known as members of a private baseball club going to Australia for a friendship match. They were arrested on Dec. 28 at an airport in Guangzhou before boarding a flight to Melbourne, Australia with crystal methamphetamine.
The arrests come after China executed four South Koreans for drug offenses over 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. (Yonhap)
