Bus groping suspect deported to South Korea

A 49-year-old man who lived in Canada illegally for 17 years has been deported back to South Korea after allegedly groping women on a Vancouver bus.

Transit police claim they caught the man touching women inappropriately last month on the 99 B-Line bus route that runs along Broadway to UBC.

When the suspect refused to properly identify himself, Canada Border Services Agency officers were called to help determine his name.

Authorities eventually identified him as Seung Woo Min, a man accused of living in the country illegally since 1995.

Min was also found to be wanted on multiple South Korean warrants for financial crimes, including fraud and embezzlement totaling almost $200,000, police said.

The suspect was deported and police said he will be dealt with by authorities back home.

He was never charged with sexual assault in B.C., though transit police Const. Anne Drennan said authorities are continuing to investigate the case.

“It was deemed more appropriate to have him deported and face the charges back there,” Drennan said, noting that processing Min through the Canadian justice system may have allowed him to remain in the country much longer.

Police will still attempt to charge Min in case he should ever find a way back into Canada, Drennan added.