Son Jun-ho, a South Korean foreign aid worker for Shandong Taishan, was detained in China last year on bribery charges and returned to China on the same day, South Korean media quoted the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs as saying on Monday (25). The Korea Football Association later confirmed that he had returned to Incheon International Airport on Monday afternoon after more than 10 months since his detention in China.
According to earlier reports, Son Jun-ho was arrested in June of the same year after he was taken away and detained by Chinese public security officers at Shanghai Hongqiao Airport while boarding a flight back to South Korea in May last year. A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry had said that Sun was arrested in accordance with the law on suspicion of bribery by a non-state official. After Sun's arrest, South Korea maintained communication with China through various channels and asked China to actively cooperate in a fast and fair investigation, the South Korean Foreign Ministry said. The ROK has also conducted more than 20 consular interviews with Sun's family members in the ROK, providing necessary assistance such as meeting with lawyers. Whether the case will be finalized and the outcome of the verdict cannot be confirmed for the time being.
In the anti-corruption storm in the mainland soccer world last year, the media said that Sun Junhao's investigation may be related to the fake football case in which Shandong Taishan's manager Hao Wei was involved. Before Sun's arrest, his teammate Jin Jingdao was also taken away by the police for investigation, so there are allegations that Sun was involved in a number of fake football matches organized by Jin and gained monetary benefits from them. According to the analysis of soccer media sources, Sun's sudden release, or on behalf of non-CFA personnel in this round of industry consolidation may be point to stop, will not catch too strict.
