Can You Be Extradited to South Korea from a Country with No Extradition Treaty with Korea?

An extradition to Korea or another jurisdiction is possible even from a country that has no extradition treaty with the respective country. The following case is an example of a case in which an extradition occurred between two nations that have not concluded an extradition treaty.

Extradition to a Non-Extradition Treaty Country

IPG Legal is one of the only firms with experience handling extradition cases in Korea and abroad. We consult with and work with lawyers and clients worldwide on extradition cases concerning individuals being extradited to, among other countries, China, Korea, the Philippines, Thailand, and the United States. For more information on Korean Criminal Law and Extradition, please see IPG Legal’s Criminal Law Archive.

Extradition of a Korean Defendant from a Non-Extradition Treaty Country to Korea

A Korean man who is alleged to have distributed and profited from child pornography and prostitution while residing in Ecuador was extradited to Korea. This is the first time that a defendant was extradited from Ecuador to Korea, and one of the few cases of extradition from a non-extradition treaty country. Korean Law, in most cases, applies to Koreans globally (Extraterritoriality). Thus, violations of law outside of Korea can lead to prosecution for crimes under Korean criminal law.

Facts

1. According to the Korean Ministry of Justice, the defendant operated a site called the Mang○ from November 2017 to November 2019. The Defendant distributed approximately 3,000 child and youth sexual exploitation videos and images and advertised a prostitution business through the ‘Opi○○’ site from 2012 to 2019.
2. The Defendant was also investigated for hiding criminal proceeds in virtual assets such as Bitcoin through domestic accomplices and then receiving the money in Ecuador.
3. The accomplices of the Defendant were found guilty in 2022 on charges of aiding and abetting violations of the Information and Communications Network Act of Korea (Distribution of Pornography) and violating the Korean Act on the Regulation of Concealment of Criminal Proceeds.
4. The Ministry of Justice of Korea, the Korean prosecution, and the Korean police identified the Defendant’s location as Ecuador.
5. Even though there is no extradition treaty between Korea and Ecuador, the extradition request was made to the Ecuadorian government based on reciprocity, as the treaty on mutual legal assistance in criminal cases came into effect at the end of 2024.
6. The Ecuadorian government accepted the extradition request from Korea, and the Defendant was extradited to Korea in June of 2025.

The Ministry of Justice noted that: “This extradition was achieved through close cooperation with the Ecuadorian authorities, embassies of both countries, Interpol, and other related organizations, despite the lack of an extradition treaty for child and adolescent sexual exploitation offenders, which has become a major social problem . . .This is a case that shows that there is no safe haven from punishment anywhere in the world. We will continue to track down and punish crimes targeting the socially vulnerable, such as sexual crimes against children and adolescents.”

Sean Hayes is the first non-Korean attorney to have worked for the Korean court system (Constitutional Court of Korea) and one of the first non-Koreans to be a regular member of a Korean law faculty. Sean is ranked, for Korea, as one of only two non-Korean lawyers as a Top Attorney by AsiaLaw, and IPG Legal is consistently ranked Top Dispute Resolution Law Firm for our litigation services.

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