SEOUL, May 13 (AJU PRESS) - A man who is allegedly involved in the murder of a Korean tourist in Thailand has been arrested in Korea, police said Monday. Authorities are also tracing the whereabouts of two other accomplices.
The victim, a man in his mid-30s, was found dead on May 11 in a plastic barrel which had been dumped in a reservoir in Pattaya. He entered Thailand late last month and went missing. The incident was reported on May 7 when his mother received a threatening phone call demanding a ransom of 3 million baht ($81,000) and threatening her son's life.
According to the victim's Thai girlfriend, he was last seen at Bangkok's club district on May 2. Further investigation revealed footage of him riding in a pick-up truck with two other Koreans in Pattaya the next day, with the same truck allegedly dumping a black object into a nearby reservoir on May 4.
The victim's body, wrapped in a 200-litre barrel filled with cement, was retrieved from the water on May 4. A shopkeeper confirmed selling the wrapping materials to a man captured on the store's security camera, later identified as one of three Korean suspects in the murder.
One of the suspects was arrested in Jeongeup, North Jeolla Province on Sunday.
Authorities believe the two remaining suspects have fled Thailand, with one reportedly in Myanmar and the other in Cambodia. Police said they are cooperating with local authorities to trace the remaining two.
