South Korean jailed for not paying Shanghai factory workers

A South Korean citizen has become the first expat in Shanghai to be jailed for refusing to pay his employees, a criminal offense since 2011.

Qingpu District People’s Court sentenced Hong Ki to five months in prison and fined him 40,000 yuan ($6,060) on Tuesday.

Hong, 65, is the legal representative and operator of Mingxin Clothing (Shanghai) Co. The company was established in 2004 and produces women’s apparel for the South Korean market, the court said.

Mingxin’s 158 employees lost contact with Hong, who had gone overseas, on Feb 7. He owed them a total of 608,000 yuan in salary for the previous month.

Police caught Hong in August in Dalian, Liaoning province. He paid the wages owed plus compensation, which amounted to 3.58 million yuan, but authorities still decided to prosecute in September.