He was among a group of five "snakehead" gang members -- who came from the Republic of Korea (ROK), Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and two Chinese provinces -- to be sentenced by the Yantai Intermediate People's Court on Tuesday.

According to the court, the men were arrested on January 18 by local frontier police in Yantai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong Province, as they were preparing to smuggle 23 people in two fishing boats to the ROK.

The stowaways comprised of 19 people from the DPRK and four Chinese nationals.

Choi Young-hoon was a businessman in Seoul before he arrived in Yantai in December. Seok Jae-hyun was a university professor in Taegu in the ROK.

The pair teamed up with the other men at the end of last year to co-ordinate the smuggling operation.

Choi and Seok flew from Inchon in the ROK to Yantai on January 13, with funds from a ROK-based NGO.

According to a plan hatched by the organization, they were to smuggle the people from Yantai to the ROK. The name of the NGO and its business credentials were not revealed in court.

Choi was in charge of arranging the boats and people, while Seok filmed a "promotional" video of the process.

On January 16, they berthed the fishing boats in the city and waited for the other gang members and their human cargo.

Yantai frontier police arrested all involved over the following two days.

Choi was sentenced to five years in jail and got a 30,000 yuan (US$3,600) fine.

Seok got two years in jail and was fined 5,000 yuan (US$600). They were both deported from China.

Piao Longhao, from Jilin Province, was sentenced to three years' prison and fined 10,000 yuan (US$1,210).

Chinese national Jin Wancheng from Heilongjiang Province was sentenced to one year in jail with a one-year reprieve and a 1,000 yuan (US$120) fine.

The remaining person, a DPRK national, was given a two-year term and fined 5,000 yuan (US$604). He was also deported.

(China Daily May 29, 2003)