Sin Chang-won

Sin Chang-won is one of those cases where the story almost feels too cinematic to be real — a man who broke out of a South Korean prison in 1997 and then proceeded to dodge one of the most intensive nationwide manhunts the country had seen, staying a step ahead of authorities for over two years. Born in 1967 in North Jeolla Province, he wasn't famous for any talent or achievement; his notoriety is entirely built on that evasion, and yet that's exactly what makes him so hard to forget. I find myself weirdly fascinated, not because I'm rooting for a criminal, but because the sheer audacity of it — and the gaps in the system he slipped through — says a lot about South Korean society in that era. He's less a person and more a symbol of a particular kind of desperation and chaos.

Sin Chang-won (born May 28, 1967) is a South Korean criminal who gained notoriety after escaping from prison in 1997 and evading police for over two years. Despite a nationwide manhunt, he narrowly avoided arrest on many occasions.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Name (English)

Sin Chang-won

Name (Japanese)

シン・チャンウォン事件

Reading

しん・ちゃんうぉん事件

Born

May 28, 1967 (age 59)

Zodiac / Chinese zodiac

Gemini / Goat

Origin

Geumgu-myeon, North Jeolla, South Korea

Blood type

Private

Height

Private

Agency

Private

Occupation

Public figure

Elementary school

Private

Junior high

Private

High school

Private

University

Private

Spouse

Private

Children

Private

Parents

Private

Siblings

Private

Motto

Private

• Wikipedia (Japanese)https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%82%B7%E3%83%B3%E3%83%BB%E3%83%81%E3%83%A3%E3%83%B3%E3%82%A6%E3%82%A9%E3%83%B3%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6

Tags

• North Jeolla

Last updated

2026-06-02

Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.