Korean embassy aids rescue of abducted workers in Haiti
Men belonging to a local defense force stand guard in a cemetery during a funeral service for people killed in an armed gang attack on August 23, in Kenscoff, Haiti, Sept. 2, 2026.
REUTERS
Two employees of a Korean company in Haiti who spent weeks captive after being kidnapped by an armed gang in Port-au-Prince have been safely released, according to a statement from South Korea’s Foreign Ministry shared with the Miami Herald.
The South Korean nationals are among a growing number of people who have been abducted in recent months as for-ransom kidnappings remain a persistent threat as armed groups continue to expand their terriroties.
Gangs continue to hold dozens of residents seized during a recent attack on the mountainous community of Kenscoff, where gunmen shot people to death and burned others alive in their homes.
Also still being held captive is James Boyard, a Haitian national police officer who served as cabinet director and inspector general at Haiti’s Defense Ministry and his 6 year-old daughter, who is a U.S. citizen.
The two were abducted on June 11, along with Boyard’s wife, as the couple was taking the girl to the doctor. Though the wife was released, father and daughter continue to he held despite several ransom payments. House Foreign Affairs Chairman Brian Mast, a Florida Republican, pressed Haitian police over the case during a recent U.S. congressional delegation visit to Port-au-Prince.
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The two Korean nationals were abducted on July 31. The first was released on Aug. 18, and the second person was released on Tuesday.
“Both are reported to be in good health,” the South Korean foreign ministry said.
After learning of the abductions, the ministry said it established an emergency operation center at the Korean embassy in the Dominican Republic, which has jurisdiction over Haiti. The ministry also dispatched a rapid-response team to Port-au-Prince to help secure the safe release of the abductees. The team worked with Haitian police and other authorities, as well as the diplomatic missions of friendly countries in Haiti, the ministry said.
The ministry did not say whether a ransom payment was made and it did not identify the company the two nationals worked for or the industry. Korean business owners have long been involved in Haiti’s garment sector.
South Korea has prohibited its nationals from traveling to Haiti since May 2024 because of the worsening security situation. Korean nationals who need to stay in Haiti are required to obtain special permission for exceptional use of their passports, the ministry said. The two Korean nationals who were kidnapped had such a permission to remain in Haiti for business purposes, the ministry added.
Jacqueline Charles has reported on Haiti and the English-speaking Caribbean for the Miami Herald for over a decade. A Pulitzer Prize finalist for her coverage of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, she was awarded a 2018 Maria Moors Cabot Prize — the most prestigious award for coverage of the Americas.