Japanese National Extradited for Operating Illegal Manga Site... First Extradition Under Korea-Japan Treaty

Ministry of Justice Secures Final Approval After Coordination With Japanese Authorities

The Ministry of Justice has extradited a suspect in copyright law violations from Japanese authorities. This extradition marks the first case in which a Japanese national has been handed over to Korea by Japan since the "Extradition Treaty between the Republic of Korea and Japan" was signed in 2002.

Ministry of Justice Building, Gwacheon-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On June 11, the Ministry of Justice announced that, in cooperation with prosecutors and police, it had received a Japanese national in his 30s, identified as Mr. A, through Gimpo International Airport. Mr. A is suspected of operating an illegal manga sharing website.

Mr. A left for Japan in 2017 and acquired Japanese citizenship in 2022. He is alleged to have operated an illegal manga sharing website from around 2015 to 2022, illegally posting more than 1,400 popular manga works such as "Slam Dunk," "One Piece," and "Detective Conan," while generating revenue by running advertisements for gambling sites.

In January 2024, upon request from the prosecution and police, the Ministry of Justice immediately began a legal review. Close consultations regarding the extradition were also held with Japanese authorities. During this process, the Ministry of Justice, prosecution, police, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism maintained a coordinated response, including organizing the extensive case details in a way that would be easily understood by Japanese authorities.

Substantive investigative cooperation was also carried out. Around March, the Ministry of Justice and the National Police Agency directly visited Japan to receive items seized from Mr. A's residence from Japanese authorities and succeeded in securing additional evidence. Following the extradition procedures in Japan that continued until June, Korea obtained final approval from Japanese authorities, finalizing the suspect's extradition to Korea.

The prosecution, police, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism stated that they plan to work closely together to uncover the full scope of the website's criminal methods and operational structure, as well as thoroughly track and recover the proceeds of crime.

A Ministry of Justice official stated, "We will continue to respond strictly to transnational crimes that threaten domestic creators and the content industry by maintaining close cooperation with relevant ministries."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.