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Kim Seong-tae, former chairman of Ssangbang-ul, who was caught in Thailand, is expected to be repatriated to Korea tomorrow (13th) at the earliest after being issued an emergency passport.

Until yesterday, former chairman Kim had hinted at refusing to repatriate, but he suddenly changed his mind and decided to return.



First of all, this is reporter Bae Jun-woo.



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The day before yesterday, former Chairman Kim Seong-tae, who was arrested at a golf course near Bangkok, Thailand, appeared in a trial to determine whether he was illegally staying.



However, immediately after he was arrested, it was confirmed that he said, "I will admit to staying illegally and pay the fine," unlike his stubborn persistence, saying that he was not staying illegally.



The Thai court plans to expel former Chairman Kim as soon as a fine of 3,000 baht or 110,000 won in our money is paid.



An official from the investigation authorities said, "Overnight, former Chairman Kim showed a change of heart toward returning home."



Prosecutors have been working to convince former chairman Kim that it would be better to return to Korea soon after his arrest, undergo an investigation, and dispel suspicions.



Former Chairman Kim is known to have discussed legal responses with Korean lawyers from time to time even while on the run, and he seems to have decided that it would be advantageous to return to Korea early and engage in the investigation since he was arrested.



Former Chairman Kim, whose passport has been invalidated, is scheduled to receive an emergency passport issued tomorrow at the Korean Embassy after staying in a foreigner detention center today.



After the final confirmation procedure on whether or not he was involved in a crime in Thailand, the Thai police board former Chairman Kim on a Korean flag plane, and the Korean Ministry of Justice and prosecutors will take over former Chairman Kim's identity and execute an arrest warrant.



Former Chairman Kim is a person at the apex of various suspicions related to the Ssangbangul Group, such as the suspicion of paying lawyer Lee Jae-myung's representative and the suspicion of illegal remittance to North Korea.



(Video coverage: Seol-hwan Seol, Video editing: Joon-hee Kim, CG: Yu-geun Jeon



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