US citizen loses legal challenge to extradition

A U.S. citizen accused of killing a South Korean college student in 1997 has lost his legal battle against his extradition to Seoul, officials said Sunday. A U.S. federal court in California upheld the extradition order for Arthur Patterson, Yonhap News Agency reported. Patterson, 34, has been wanted in South Korea on suspicion of stabbing a 22-year-old student at a Burger King restaurant in Itaewon in 1997. South Korea's Prosecutors' Office had indicted Patterson in November 2011 and the United States accepted Seoul's request for extradition in October 2012. However, in December 2012, Patterson applied for habeas corpus legal action, aimed at preventing Seoul from extraditing him. "The court said Patterson's extradition to South Korea is valid," the South Korean Ministry of Justice said Sunday, adding that Patterson immediately filed another appeal so it is unclear when he will arrive in South Korea. "Because he can appeal the case a total of three times, it may be awhile before he is brought to South Korea," said a ministry official, whose name was not reported.