More than 1 in 5 criminal suspects who fled South Korea during prosecutorial investigations in the past five years escaped to China, having overtaken the United States as the most common destination for fugitives in 2022, data shows. China accounted for 20.9 percent of those cases, followed by the United States at 14 percent, Vietnam at 8.6 percent, the Philippines at 8.2 percent, and Thailand at 6.3 percent. The US was the leading destination in 2021, China surpassed it in 2022 and has remained the No. The proportion of fugitives heading to China rose steadily, from 17.5 percent in 2021 to 23.7 percent in just the first half of 2025. A Justice Ministry official said destination choices often reflect a combination of factors.