3 Filipinos including 2 local police officers arrested for murdering S. Korean

SEOUL, Jan. 21 (Yonhap) -- Three Filipinos including two local police officers have been arrested on charges of kidnapping and killing a South Korean businessman last year, the foreign ministry here said Saturday.

They were arrested on Friday on charges that they were involved in abducting a South Korean man in his 50s, surnamed Ji, in the Philippines last October for ransom and killing him later, according to the ministry.

Ji was strangled to death on the day of his abduction.

One of the two police officers in custody is known to have confessed that he witnessed the other officer killing the Korean man. The two are also accused of cremating the body.

Four others including the victim's housekeeper were believed to have been involved in his abduction. They are under investigation without physical detention, the ministry said.

The ministry said that it has ordered its ambassador stationed in the Philippines to cooperate with local authorities to get to the bottom of the case and hold anyone involved accountable, while preparing measures to prevent such an incident from happening again.
(END)