MANILA, Philippines — A bizarre video showing a man being lifted over the waters of Occidental Mindoro by a heavy-duty drone has taken on a far more serious dimension after South Korean media linked the footage to an alleged plan to help a Korean prisoner escape from a Philippine prison.
The video, originally recorded in Sablayan, Occidental Mindoro, showed a Filipino man hanging onto a large drone as it lifted him above the water before he eventually dropped into the sea.
At first, it appeared to be nothing more than an unusual drone demonstration.
Months later, however, the footage was cited by South Korean media as an alleged test run for a planned prison escape involving South Korean national Park Wang-yeol, who had been detained in the Philippines.
But Philippine authorities have stressed that the alleged escape attempt was never carried out—and the Department of Justice has questioned the reliability of the reports coming from abroad.
The Video That Suddenly Became Evidence
The footage was recorded in March 2026 at a port in Sablayan.
The Filipino man in the video, identified only as NJ, told GMA’s Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho that he and his friends were at the port when they encountered a Korean tourist operating the unusually large drone.
According to NJ, the Korean man said the drone could carry a person weighing up to approximately 75 kilograms.
NJ said he volunteered to try it.
He was shown attaching himself to the drone before being lifted above the water. He eventually let go and fell into the sea.
NJ insisted that there was no criminal purpose behind the flight.
He said it was simply a demonstration for his group of friends to see whether the machine could actually lift a person.
At the time, neither NJ nor the people who recorded the footage reportedly knew that the video could later become connected to an alleged prison escape plan.
South Korean Media Made the Explosive Connection
The story changed after South Korean broadcaster JTBC reported that the drone footage was allegedly connected to an escape plan involving Park Wang-yeol.
According to the South Korean report, Park allegedly planned to escape by attaching himself to a heavy-duty drone capable of carrying a person over the walls of a prison facility.
The report said the drone demonstration in Mindoro was supposedly a test of whether the aircraft had enough lifting capacity to carry a person.
South Korean reporting cited an alleged source familiar with Park’s prison life and reported that the plan was discovered before it could be executed.
The reported plan was never carried out.
That distinction is crucial.
There is no report that Park actually escaped from a Philippine prison using a drone.
Who Is Park Wang-yeol?
Park is a South Korean national who was imprisoned in the Philippines after being convicted in connection with the killings of three fellow South Koreans in the country in 2016.
Philippine reporting said he received a prison sentence of up to 60 years in 2022.
His name had also been associated with previous escape attempts.
According to GMA, Park escaped detention twice before: once in 2017, when he and another Korean detainee reportedly opened a hole through a cell ceiling and roof at Camp Bagong Diwa, and again in 2019, when he escaped through a ventilation window in a restroom.
He was eventually recaptured in 2020.
The reported history of previous escape attempts is one reason the alleged drone plan attracted attention in South Korean media.
But There Is A Major Contradiction
Despite the dramatic claims, Philippine authorities have not confirmed that an actual drone jailbreak attempt took place.
The Department of Justice said there was no reported escape attempt involving Park while he was in Philippine custody.
Justice Undersecretary Ian Norman Dato said information originating outside the Philippines and from sources that had not been independently verified should be treated cautiously before Philippine authorities take action.
The DOJ also confirmed that Park was no longer in the Philippines.
He was transferred to the custody of South Korean authorities in March 2026.
That means the viral footage and the alleged escape plan should not be presented as proof that a drone-assisted jailbreak was actually attempted.
BuCor: A Drone Escape Would Be Extremely Difficult
The Bureau of Corrections has separately pushed back against the idea that a prisoner could realistically escape using a drone.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said operating prisons and penal farms are designated no-fly zones.
He also pointed to round-the-clock watchtowers, CCTV systems and prison security personnel as obstacles to any such operation.
The noise generated by a large drone would also make it difficult to approach a correctional facility unnoticed, according to Catapang.
ABS-CBN reported that BuCor characterized the possibility of a successful drone jailbreak as highly unlikely.
BusinessMirror likewise reported BuCor’s position that prison surveillance and the noise generated by drones would make such an escape difficult to execute.
The Filipino Man In The Video Denies Being An Accomplice
For NJ, the sudden connection to an alleged prison escape was shocking.
He denied knowing Park and said he had no knowledge that the Korean tourist he encountered could have been connected to any criminal plan.
NJ said he was simply curious about the drone and agreed to participate in what he understood to be a demonstration.
He also said he was surprised to later see the footage being linked to an alleged Korean prison escape.
“If I were an accomplice, then I should have been arrested already,” NJ said in the GMA report.
He also acknowledged that, in hindsight, he should have been more careful about the people he encountered.
Who Was The Korean Drone Operator?
That remains one of the key unanswered questions.
According to GMA’s report, the hotel where the Korean visitor reportedly stayed confirmed that it had hosted a Korean guest who introduced himself as “Mr. Kim.”
The hotel reportedly said the guest stayed for 18 days and did not pay for his accommodation.
The family connected to the person who recorded the viral video also said a Korean man later returned to the area looking for the sibling who had uploaded the footage.
However, the family member could not independently confirm whether that person was the same Korean national referred to in the reports.
Authorities have therefore not publicly established the identity of the drone operator or demonstrated that he was connected to Park’s alleged escape plan.
The Reported Escape Plan Was Never Executed
South Korean media reports said Park’s alleged drone plan emerged shortly before he was transferred to South Korea.
Reports cited by Philippine and international media said the alleged plan involved a drone capable of lifting approximately 75 kilograms and potentially carrying a person beyond prison walls.
One South Korean report put the alleged cost of the escape plot at around 100 million won, or roughly US$74,000.
But these figures and details come from South Korean media reporting and sources cited by those reports. They have not been independently established by Philippine authorities.
That distinction is especially important because the Philippine DOJ has publicly questioned the verifiability of the information.
Park Has Already Been Returned To South Korea
Another major development is that Park is no longer being held in the Philippines.
The DOJ said he was handed over to South Korean authorities in March.
South Korean authorities reportedly wanted him transferred to face another case involving alleged drug-related offenses.
GMA reported that Park was temporarily brought to South Korea in March to face a drug-related case.
As a result, the alleged drone escape plot is now largely being examined as a reported plan that was never executed, rather than an actual prison breakout.
Why The Viral Video Matters
The unusual footage nevertheless raises legitimate questions.
If the South Korean media account is accurate, the video could represent a real-world demonstration of a drone’s ability to lift a human being.
But the existence of such a demonstration does not establish that it was performed specifically for Park or his alleged escape plan.
There are several separate facts that must therefore be distinguished:
Confirmed: A large drone lifted a Filipino man over the water in Sablayan.
Reported by South Korean media: The footage was allegedly connected to a plan involving Park.
Denied or questioned by Philippine authorities: That an actual escape attempt occurred while Park was in Philippine custody.
BuCor’s position: A drone-assisted prison escape would be extremely difficult because of security systems, watchtowers, CCTV and the noise of drones.
The Bigger Question Is Still Unanswered
The viral Mindoro footage has now become the center of a strange international story involving a Korean prisoner, a massive drone and an alleged prison escape plan.
But the most important question remains unresolved:
Was the drone flight actually a test for Park Wang-yeol’s escape—or was it simply an unusual demonstration that happened to be captured on video?
The Filipino man who participated in the flight says he had no idea about any escape plot.
The Philippine DOJ has said there was no reported escape attempt.
BuCor says such an escape would have been extremely difficult.
And while South Korean media have reported an alleged plan, Philippine authorities have not publicly confirmed all of the claims surrounding it.
For now, the viral video proves one thing clearly: a drone in Mindoro was capable of lifting a person.
Everything beyond that remains a matter for authorities to establish.
