A Pakistani man working as a market clerk in Seoul’s Itaewon has been arrested for links to Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the terrorist group behind the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency detained him on August 2, 2025, for violating the Act on Counter-Terrorism and the Immigration Act.
Police say he joined LeT in 2020, completed weapons and infiltration training, and entered South Korea in December 2023 with a visa obtained under false pretenses. He posed as a businessman planning to launch a company.
Authorities found no evidence he plotted or carried out attacks in South Korea but charged him under Article 17 of the Counter-Terrorism Act for his terrorist group ties. The suspect denies all allegations.
Investigators are now checking whether he sent money to LeT.
This marks the first arrest in South Korea of a member of a United Nations-designated terrorist group.
LeT has strong links to Al-Qaida, Osama bin Laden, and the Taliban and was blacklisted by the UN Security Council in 2005. Its front group Jamaat-ud-Dawa has backed many deadly attacks, including the 2008 Mumbai massacre that killed 175 people and a July 2025 assault in India-administered Kashmir that left 26 dead and 20 injured.
> “The man was detained on August 2, 2025, for violating the Act on Counter-Terrorism and the Immigration Act.” – Gyeonggi Nambu Provincial Police Agency
> “He joined LeT in Pakistan in 2020, receiving weapons and infiltration training before becoming an official member.” – Authorities
The investigation remains ongoing.
