MARAWI CITY—The government has assured South Korea it will do all it can to ensure the safe recovery of three South Korean businessmen who have been abducted by a kidnap-for-ransom gang in Lanao del Sur.
Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario met with South Korean Ambassador Kee Hye-min and relayed the “government’s assurance that all appropriate assistance would be given” to rescue the three businessmen.
The government has even coordinated with the rebel Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), which has agreed to help locate and rescue the foreigners from the criminal syndicate.
The Army confirmed that three South Koreans, who were initially reported to be missing, had indeed been kidnapped.
Colonel Daniel Lucero, commander of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade based in Lanao del Sur, said they have received reports that the group holding the foreigners, led by a certain “Pogi,” phoned friends of the South Koreans about three days ago and asked for ransom.
He said the other details of the conversation between the friends of Wu Seok-bung, Kim Nam-du and In Soo-choi were not clear, except that the kidnappers wanted money.
Lucero said Pogi’s group had previously been linked to extortion and carjacking in Lanao del Sur.
The three South Koreans had apparently gone to Lanao del Sur to check out a mining investment opportunity.
Lucero said it was not clear yet where the victims were being held although there were reports they may be somewhere in near the Lake Lanao area here, or in the borders between Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte.
“We are intensifying our monitoring,” Lucero said.
Lucero said the military was also coordinating with Muslim religious leaders and commanders of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) in the two Lanao provinces for a concerted effort at rescuing the South Koreans.
Ghadzali Jaafar, MILF political affairs chief, said members of the Ad Hoc Joint Action Group (Ahjag) were working with their government counterparts to locate the South Koreans.
“There was a case in Lanao del Sur before when kidnap victims were rescued and the kidnappers were turned over by MILF Ahjag to the government,” Jaafar said.
The three foreigners went to Lanao del Norte from Cagayan de Oro City on October 21 reportedly to check out information on mining deposits there.
A few days after their disappearance, staffers at the Miami Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City, where they were booked, were alarmed they had not returned and notified authorities about their missing guests.
In March 2008, armed men also kidnapped South Korean businessman Tae Jung and a Filipino companion in Lanao del Sur. They were freed two months later. With reports from Richel Umel, Jeoffrey Maitem and Edwin Fernandez, Inquirer Mindanao; Jerry E. Esplanada in Manila; and AP