South Korea national footballer detained over suspected bribery
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South Korea's Son Junho (left) is being held in police custody in northeast China in connection with a bribery case.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BEIJING – A South Korean citizen, whom his government identified as footballer Son Jun-ho, is suspected of accepting bribes and has been detained by the public security department of Liaoning province, China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday.
Son, detained on Friday, is being held in police custody in north-east China in connection with a bribery case, a South Korean diplomatic source said earlier on Monday, raising tensions between the two nations competing on various economic fronts. Reuters was unable to reach Son for comment.
He plays for the South Korean national team and Chinese Super League club Shandong Taishan, based in the north-eastern province of Shandong.
“Recently, an ROK national suspected of taking bribes has been detained by the public security authorities of Liaoning province,” ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a news briefing.
“China is a country governed by the rule of law and handles the relevant cases in accordance with the law to protect all the legitimate rights and interests of the parties involved.”
South Korea’s foreign ministry said its mission in China was providing necessary consular support to the 31-year-old Son but declined to comment further, citing privacy.
A Korea Football Association official said it had reached out to the Chinese club seeking an explanation.
Son played in three of the national team’s four matches during the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where South Korea advanced into the knockout phase of the tournament for the first time in 12 years.
His club has not commented publicly on Son’s situation but uploaded a poster wishing him happy birthday on Friday, the day of his detention.
While the arrest at this point appears solely tied to sports, it comes as expatriates in the world’s second-biggest economy are becoming worried about a potential fresh wave of probes targeting foreign companies.
US consultancy Bain & Company confirmed in April that Chinese authorities questioned staff at its Shanghai office, without revealing details on the nature of the investigation.
That followed a series of actions taken against other foreign companies, including a raid in March of New York-based due diligence firm Mintz Group’s Beijing operations and the detention of an employee of Japanese drugmaker Astellas Pharma just days later.
REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
