A 72-year-old South Korean man who entered Japan with permission to remain for simply 15 days in 1993 has been arrested after allegedly spending the subsequent 33 years residing within the nation.
Japanese authorities arrested the person, recognized in studies as Mun Jong-gi, in Yaizu, Shizuoka Prefecture, on August 26. Police allege that he entered Japan in September 1993 utilizing his youthful brother’s passport and by no means returned to South Korea after his visa expired.
In response to a report by The Times of India, Mun had travelled to Japan looking for better-paid work. He’s believed to have spent the next many years incomes a residing by means of day labour and different informal jobs.
The case got here to gentle solely this 12 months. Police acquired details about a suspected unlawful resident in June 2026 and started wanting into the matter. Their investigation finally led them to Mun.
Police say he admitted to the allegations throughout questioning. Nevertheless, the circumstances of how he managed to remain in Japan for thus lengthy with out authorized residency are nonetheless being regarded into.
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His keep started with a 15-day visa
Mun arrived in Japan at a time when the nation had a a lot bigger variety of individuals overstaying their visas. In 1993, Japan recorded round 298,646 visa overstayers, in keeping with figures from the nation’s Justice Ministry cited in studies.
Mun’s authorised keep, nevertheless, was solely 15 days. After that interval ended, he continued residing in Japan.
Over time, he reportedly supported himself by taking over informal work. Police haven’t shared many particulars about the place he labored or the place he lived throughout his lengthy keep.
There may be additionally an essential authorized element behind the reported timeline. Whereas Mun is believed to have remained in Japan for round 33 years, police are referring to roughly 26 years of unlawful residence in reference to the present prison allegation.
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Japan launched prison punishment for unlawful residence after adjustments to its immigration legislation got here into impact in February 2000. Consequently, the alleged offence lined by the arrest is counted from that time, relatively than from the expiry of his authentic keep in 1993.
Japan’s overstayer numbers have additionally modified sharply since Mun first arrived. By January 2026, the determine had dropped to 68,488.
