3 kidnapped South Koreans may have been split, says military

ILIGAN CITY—The abductors of three South Korean nationals may have separated their victims to better avoid detection by pursuing authorities, a military commander said.

Colonel Daniel Lucero, Task Force Ranao commander, said the theory came up after searches in the towns of Bayang, Madamba, Piagapo, Kapai—all in Lanao del Sur—came up negative.

There were earlier suspicions the foreigners had been brought to one of the towns.

“In Bayang, the mayor conducted a house to house search but there were no positive indicators of the presence of the victims and the kidnappers, Lucero said.

He said the same was true in the other towns.

“We suspect the kidnappers are keeping the victims in separate locations to mislead the military and police authorities,” he said.

Lucero had earlier identified the group of a certain “Pogi” as being behind the abduction of Wu Seok-bung, Kim Nam-du and In Soo-choi.

The three foreigners traveled to Lanao del Norte on October 21 after a local contact reportedly told them about an area there that would make a good mining site.

Days after they failed to return to their hotel in Cagayan de Oro City, authorities said they received information the foreigners had been kidnapped.

Colonel Aldred Limoso, the Army commander based in this city, said the Filipino girlfriend of one of the victims confirmed the report after she was able to speak to one of the kidnappers.

Limoso said that during the conversation, the girlfriend was told the South Koreans would be released for P50 million in ransom.

Originally posted: 5:41 pm | Tuesday, November 15th, 2011