Police: 5 Arrested in 'Pyeongtaek Foreign Nationals' Brawl... 2 Detained, 14 Still Being Sought

Foreign nationals in their 20s and 30s from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan
Dispute at club for foreign nationals leads them to meet to reconcile, then brawl.

Some of the foreign nationals involved in a late-night group brawl at a children's park in a residential area of Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, have been arrested.

Scene of the incident. Provided by a Yonhap News reader.

Pyeongtaek Police Station in Gyeonggi Province said on October 20 that it had arrested five foreign nationals in their 20s and 30s from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan on suspicion of violating the Act on the Punishment of Violence, etc. (joint injury) and inflicting injury with a dangerous weapon, among other charges. Two of them, including a Kazakh man in his 20s identified as A, have been taken into custody.

A and the others are accused of forming groups and wielding wooden clubs and other weapons in a brawl around Wonjeong Children's Park in Dogok-ri, Poseung-eup, Pyeongtaek, at around 11:40 p.m. on October 3, injuring people.

The incident stemmed from an altercation on September 28 at a club for foreign nationals between people from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan living in the Pyeongtaek area. Investigators found that the parties involved met at the park to reconcile over the earlier dispute, but another argument broke out among their compatriots, whom they had called to prepare for any eventuality, escalating into a group brawl.

On the day of the incident, police responded to a report that "a group of foreign nationals had gathered" and issued Code Zero, the highest emergency response level. They arrested two Kyrgyz nationals, including one with dual Russian citizenship, at the scene. Police later deployed officers from the International Crime Investigation Unit of the Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency's Metropolitan Investigation Division to track down suspects who had fled.

Through analysis of CCTV footage around the scene, police confirmed that 21 foreign nationals from Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan had taken part in the brawl.

Police arrested five whose identities they had established and imposed a departure ban on two other people whose personal details had been confirmed. Three of the five arrested suspects were found to be residing in the country illegally.

Of the 21 people gathered at the scene, Kazakh nationals reportedly outnumbered Kyrgyz nationals by more than three to one. Police believe that the Kyrgyz nationals were mostly injured because they were outnumbered. Police also determined that most of those involved were day laborers and that they were not part of an organized group with a structure for extorting protection money.

Police plan to arrest the remaining 14 participants, whose nationalities and names have yet to be identified, one by one and investigate the precise circumstances of the crime and the extent of each person's involvement.

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