Crime
Thai Police find South Korean Man Beaten to Death in Chon Buri Resort
Rescue workers take away the body of South Korean man found beaten to death, at a resort in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district. (Photo by Chaiyot Phupattanapong)
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CHON BURI -Pol Maj Gen Amporn Buarapporn, chief of Chon Buri police, has reported the body of 25-year-old South Korean, Im Dong Jun, was found at a luxury resort in Bang Lamung district early Sunday
Pol Maj Gen Amporn Buarapporn said they believe he was beaten to death, allegedly by mafia gang members from his country who then fled to Vietnam, leaving the body left at a resort .
Im Dong Jun body was found at 4am and reported by Yoon Myung Kun, 31, a South Korean national.
Police, forensic officials and rescue workers went to the scene and found the body of the man inside a black Honda CRV with a Bangkok license plate parked at the resort.
Police said the man had been dead for more than 24 hours before his death was reported. There were no documents or personal belongings or valuables with him.
The body would be sent to the forensic institute for a post-mortem examination.
Pol Maj Gen Amporn Buarapporn, chief of Chon Buri police, said Mr Yoon, the victim’s friend, had accused a South Korean national and mafia gang leader, identified as Kim Sung Pyo, 30, and an associate Lim Hyung Jin, 31, of beating the victim several days ago.
The CRV was parked in front of a resort room which the gang rented. The two suspects later fled to a neighboring Vietnam, Gen Amporn Buarapporn told the Bangkok Post.
Police believed the murder might have stemmed from a conflict over an illicit activity as an initial investigation showed that the victim and the gang leader had reportedly run an unlawful business in Bangkok’s Min Buri area.
Pol Maj Gen Amporn said three police teams have been set up to locate the suspects.
He said officer will check to see whether Mr Yoon was involved in the death of his compatriot.
Mr Yoon initially told police that he drove the car on the day the victim was beaten. He claimed he had told the gang leader to send the injured man to a hospital, but Mr Kim refused and said the victim was pretending.
Instead, Mr Kim told him to drive the car with the victim inside to the resort and leave it there.
Mr Yoon told police the gang leader and his aide had fled to Vietnam, but he could not leave the country because his passport had been taken by Mr Kim.
By CHAIYOT PHUTTANAPONG AND TRINAI JANSRICHOL
