By Kim Da-ye



A former English teacher who allegedly filmed having sex with a 15-year-old girl and distributed the clip on the Internet was extradited Wednesday from Armenia to Korea, the Ministry of Justice said Wednesday.



The 29-year-old American suspect came to Korea in May 2009 and taught English in Daejeon, a metropolitan city 140 kilometers from Seoul. He had sex with a high school student he met on the Internet and filmed it. In August 2010, he allegedly posted that video on the Internet.



When the media reported the incident in October 2010, the American left Korea for China. In October, he was arrested in Armenia by Interpol for distribution of child pornography.



Korean authorities entered into extradition discussions with the Armenian government in November. Because there is no direct flight from Armenia to Korea and the suspect had to be flown through the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the ministry also had to work with the UAE government to arrange a "transit extradition."



"Criminal investigation of the American will begin when he arrives in Korea," a ministry official said. "Once he is held in custody, we will inform the U.S. embassy, which will check if he is being treated fairly."



The official refused to confirm if the suspect has landed here.



By law, a distributor of child pornography can face up to seven years in prison and up to 50 million won in fines.



Extradition of offenders fleeing overseas has increased in the past decade ― eight in 2003, 15 in 2008, 25 in 2012 and 41 in 2013. Suspects used to be mostly handed over by the U.S. and Asian neighbors, but are now being brought back from remote countries such as Brazil and Guatemala.



"It is the first extradition of a suspect that was made possible under the European Convention on Extradition, which Korea joined in Dec. 29, 2011. We expect extradition of suspects who ran away to Europe to increase in the future," the ministry said.



The ministry said the extradition of the American is a result of strengthened punishment against those involved in child pornography. In September 2012, Korea joined the Global Alliance against Child Sexual Abuse Online, an initiative led by the U.S. and European Union.



