An international manhunt for an Orange County murder suspect has come to an end after authorities successfully tracked down the man who was hiding 8,300 miles away in Lao, Orange County authorities announced Friday.

Laotian police arrested Myung Jin Kim, 31, last month for having fake immigration documents and sent him back to Los Angeles International Airport earlier this week. He was then booked into the Anaheim Police Department jail, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office said.

Kim, a South Korean national, is accused of shooting and killing his friend, 26-year-old Christopher Kim, after arguing over money in the parking lot of a Westminster CVS on Sept. 5, 2018. Authorities said Kim had been out on bail for dealing drugs and possessing a gun as a felon when he killed his friend.

Kim shot his friend six times in front of the victim’s girlfriend and ran away, the DA’s office said.

Two years prior to the alleged homicide in Westminster, Kim orchestrated a murder-for-hire by hiring a hitman in San Jose, according to investigators. But the contract killer ended up fatally shooting the wrong man.

An investigation later identified several suspects in the San Jose murder, leading authorities to conclude that Kim had orchestrated the targeted killing, prosecutors said.

Nearly eight years after the deadly shooting in Westminster, Orange and Santa Clara County investigators learned Kim was in Laos and began drawing a plan to bring him back to the U.S.

“Justice knows no borders and we will go to the literal ends of the earth in the pursuit of justice,” said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. “It may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. But the long arm of the law of Orange County is coming for you and there is not a country on earth that is capable of shielding you from our unwavering pursuit of justice.

This is the first time Laotian officials returned a wanted fugitive from Laos to the U.S., the DA’s office said, adding that Orange County authorities have extradited or removed seven international fugitives since January 2026.

Kim was expected to be prosecuted for his crimes in Santa Clara County before being returned to Orange County to be prosecuted for his crimes committed in Orange County.

Kim’s return to the U.S. was a result of collaboration of nearly a dozen law enforcement agencies, including Vietnamese, Singaporean and Thai police.