In a conclusion to a cross-border crime that horrified tourists and locals alike, South Korea’s Supreme Court on Thursday upheld lengthy prison terms for three men convicted of kidnapping, robbing, and murdering a fellow countryman during a trip to Thailand last year. The case, dubbed the “Pattaya Barrel Murder,” by South Korean Media, involved the dismemberment and disposal of 34-year-old victim Roh Eui Jong’s body in a cement-filled plastic barrel submerged in a reservoir near Pattaya.
The court’s decision affirmed sentences handed down earlier this year by lower courts: life imprisonment for the 28-year-old ringleader, identified as Lee Yong Jin; 30 years for the 40-year-old accomplice Lee Roun; and 25 years for the 27-year-old Kim Haeonne Won. The trio, all South Korean nationals, were found guilty of murder, robbery, and corpse desecration after a trial in the Changwon District Court, with appeals rejected at every level. Prosecutors described the suspects as “antisocial” individuals who showed “disregard for human life,” having sustained themselves through voice phishing scams and extortion schemes targeting other South Korean travelers in Thailand.
The macabre details of the crime unfolded in early May 2024, when Roh, a Seoul resident visiting Thailand with his Thai wife, vanished after a night out in Bangkok. On May 2nd, he was last seen by his wife at a pub in the RCA entertainment district. Surveillance footage from May 3rd captured two of the suspects accosting Roh around 2 a.m., forcing him into a rented car, and driving southeast towards Pattaya.
The group arrived in Pattaya, where they switched vehicles to a rented white pickup truck and checked into temporary accommodation near the Mapprachan Reservoir in Banglamung district. That same day, they purchased a large plastic barrel, nylon ropes, and scissors from a local hardware store, paying in cash without raising alarms, according to the shop owner. By 9 p.m. on May 4th, CCTV showed the truck departing the rental site with a black tarp covering its cargo bed, heading directly to the reservoir.
Roh’s family soon received a frantic ransom demand via an online messaging app: 3 million Thai baht (about $82,000 USD at the time) for his safe return, with graphic threats to kill, dismember, and sell his organs on the black market if unpaid by May 8th. His mother, back in South Korea, alerted authorities, triggering a joint Thai-South Korean investigation. Thai police searched the reservoir on May 11th and discovered the barrel, weighed down with cement and containing Roh’s mutilated remains. An autopsy later confirmed he had been beaten to death, with signs of robbery as his wallet, phone, and cash were missing.
The suspects fled Thailand immediately after the disposal. An international manhunt ensued, with arrest warrants issued by Thailand’s South Criminal Court on May 15th, 2024. Lee Roun was apprehended in Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Kim Haeonne Won in Vietnam; and Lee Yong Jin at his family home in Jeongeup, South Korea, about 200 kilometers south of Seoul. Investigators uncovered evidence linking the group to similar robberies of other South Korean tourists, including voice scams where they impersonated authorities to extract money.
The case drew widespread media attention in both countries. Thai authorities have since ramped up patrols in scam-prone areas, while South Korean officials issued travel advisories warning of organized crime rings. Roh’s family expressed relief at the verdict but ongoing grief, with his wife declining public comment for safety reasons.
The Supreme Court’s ruling brings finality to a saga that began with a holiday gone wrong and ended in a reservoir’s murky depths.
For the original version of this article, please visit The Pattaya News.
