Korean consulate asks cops to increase visibility: Korean student shot in robbery

For refusing to give her bag to an armed robber, a female Korean studying English in one of the schools here is now in serious condition after she was shot around 2 a.m. yesterday along Gov. M.C. Cuenco Avenue in barangay Banilad, Cebu City.

Young Suk Jeon, 30, single, a stay-in student of the EV-2 Tutorial in Banilad was walking home with her friend and classmate Soon Oh after buying some groceries from the convenience store of a Caltex gasoline station around half a kilometer away from her school when two men riding tandem on a Kawasaki Aura motorcycle blocked their path.

Witnesses later told policemen the passenger of the motorcycle grabbed Young's shoulder bag but she refused to let go of it, prompting the robber to shoot her as they struggled. The slug entered Young's back and exited out of her abdomen.

While she was sprawled on the ground, one of the robbers got off the motorcycle to grab her bag and returned to the vehicle, the two were last seen heading towards barangay Talamban.

The victim was immediately brought by responding policemen to the Chong Hua Hospital.

Homicide investigator Desiderio Mendaros said they do not know how much money was in the victim's bag because neither the victim nor her friend could speak English. He said that they will coordinate with the Korean Consulate this Monday so that an interpreter can be provided for their investigation to prosper.

Upon learning of the incident yesterday Jose Go, the action officer of the Korean Consulate yesterday assured that an interpreter will be provided to the police.

With the incident he also urged the city police to provide police visibility even during early morning since it is also their obligation to protect Koreans staying here in Cebu.

He said that they will be informing the Korean Embassy in Manila about the incident so that the victim's parents will be notified and discuss with the Korean Consulate here in Cebu what possible assistance that they can offer the victim.

Mabolo police station chief Armando Radoc whose area of responsibility includes Banilad yesterday admitted that no beat patrol policemen are assigned to that particular area during the early hours.

He said that the area is only covered by a roving patrol because of lack of personnel to be deployed in the area as beat patrol policemen's duty ends at 10 p.m.

However, he promised to find ways to adjust the deployment of his personnel based on the instruction given to him by acting city police director Patrocinio Comendador who immediately called him up upon learning of the incident.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, chairman of the Police Coordinating and Advisory Council, said that lack of police personnel should not be used an excuse.

Rama said that he has always emphasized to the police that police visibility should be 24 hours and every area here in Cebu City should be watched.

He said that the police should be innovative enough to optimize their personnel because falling back on the excuse that they lack personnel is line giving the criminal elements the holiday.

Go said according to their latest figures there are presently around 18,000 documented Koreans in Cebu, most of them are here to study English. - /BRP