Park Young Jun, 50, was detained on November 23 last year by police officers in Da Nang City.

The Da Nang People’s Court heard that Park had come to Hanoi to gamble in casinos and lost his money. He even mortgaged his passport to take a little money and went to the nearby Thua Thien-Hue Province to continue gambling.

After running out of money there, he planned the robbery.

The South Korean got into a taxi driven by Vo Van Duc to travel from Hue to a hotel in Da Nang.

On Vo Nguyen Giap Street, Park asked Duc to stop the taxi and forced him at knifepoint to hand over two mobile phones and a wallet containing around VND1.4 million ($60). He also asked for the car key.

When Duc managed to open the door and shout for help, Park fled the scene on foot. Duc and other residents chased the Korean man until the police arrived and caught him.

South Koreans have become one of the biggest groups of visitors to Vietnam in recent years. In 2017, Vietnam welcomed more than 3.4 million South Koreans, a 44 percent year-on-year increase.

Da Nang is a highly popular destination among South Korean tourists.