Police Investigate Armed Group Brawl at Pyeongtaek Park
Police detained two men after about 10 foreign nationals were reported fighting with wooden clubs and metal pipes at parks in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.
Police are investigating a late-night group brawl in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, after about 10 foreign nationals were reported fighting in a public park with wooden clubs and metal pipes. Two men were detained at the scene, while other participants fled before officers could take them into custody.
The confrontation took place late Saturday night. Police received a report at about 11:30 p.m. that a group of people believed to be from Central Asia were fighting in a park. Video of the incident showed several men chasing another person and knocking him down while carrying wooden clubs.
Members of a local volunteer crime-prevention patrol intervened after encountering the disturbance. Park Jun-woo, a member of the Pyeongtaek Dogok-ri Pureun patrol, said members of the group took wooden clubs and objects resembling metal pipes from their vehicles. He said he repeatedly blew a whistle and moved toward the participants in an effort to force them apart.
The intervention initially dispersed the group, but the confrontation did not end there. According to the report, the participants moved roughly 350 meters to another park and resumed fighting. When police arrived, several people escaped in vehicles. Others sought shelter nearby, with some entering a convenience store and asking to be hidden.
Officers arrested two men in their 20s at the scene. One was identified as a Kyrgyz national and the other as a Russian national. Both men had suffered injuries and were receiving hospital treatment following their detention. No additional details were immediately provided about the severity of their injuries.
Police are working to identify the remaining participants and determine what caused the confrontation. The use of improvised weapons, the movement between two public locations and the flight of several people from the scene are expected to form key parts of the investigation.
The incident also highlighted the role played by neighborhood safety volunteers, whose arrival interrupted the initial confrontation before police reached the area. Their intervention caused participants to leave the first park, although the fighting reportedly resumed a short distance away. Authorities had not announced further arrests or disclosed a suspected motive as of the report’s publication.