Popular YouTuber Sachin Awasthi claimed that he was detained, denied entry to Jeju Island in South Korea, held for long hours in a detention center and forced to book an expensive return ticket to India.
He said he faced the same ordeal while transiting through China, where he was forced to wait, placed under surveillance and placed under communications restrictions.
In an Instagram post, Awasthi said he arrived on Jeju Island in South Korea with a group of friends and was “excited and ready” for the trip. But he claimed that everything changed within a few hours and he was treated as a “criminal”.
“We were detained for 38 hours in South Korea (Jeju Island) and China. We landed in Jeju Island, South Korea, excited and ready for our trip. Within a few hours, everything changed. We were denied entry and taken to a detention area. No proper explanation, just told to wait. We were told to wait,” Awasthi wrote in the caption, along with photos of the alleged detention.
The influencer also claimed that he was detained in a detention center that “is like a prison with no sunlight.” He also said he was “blackmailed” into booking a “really expensive return ticket”.
He added: “Hours passed without clarity. They kept us in their detention center (it was similar to a prison with no sunlight and no access to the outside) and also served us prison food. No one told us what would happen for hours. They blackmailed us to book a really expensive return ticket.”
Sachin Awasthi claims to have had a similar experience in China
Influencer Sachin Awasthi also claimed in his Instagram post that he had a similar experience in China as well.
“Later, while in transit through China, it continued. More waiting. More supervision. Communications were restricted. No use of the phone, no food and limited water. Sleeping conditions were worse. By the time we were told we would be sent back, we were mentally exhausted. The cost of the return ticket was about 10 times the normal price. At that moment, we didn’t have the energy to argue. We just wanted to get out safely.”
Awasthi clarified that he did not share the account “for sympathy or drama.” But he said they had “no right to treat us like criminals.”
“Travel seems magical online. But sometimes, things change in just a few hours and test you emotionally in ways you never expect,” he wrote.
