South Korean killer’s drone escape from Philippine prison foiled by test footage

A South Korean crime lord convicted of murder in the Philippines reportedly planned to escape prison by strapping himself to a drone – until his own accomplice’s rehearsal footage gave the game away.

Park Wang-yeol, 47, was sentenced in 2022 to 60 years behind bars for the killing of three South Koreans in a sugar cane field outside Bacolod City in 2016, a crime that earned him the nickname “sugar cane field killer”.

The drone-assisted escape plot was planned for earlier this year, in the weeks before his temporary repatriation to South Korea in March to face charges of importing 4.8kg (10.5lbs) of methamphetamine, Korean broadcaster JTBC reported on Monday.

This was not Park’s first escape attempt. He had already escaped custody twice, in 2017 and again in 2019 while being transported from a court hearing.