Korean couple link 4 compatriots to kidnap

Four Korean nationals were nabbed last Tuesday for allegedly kidnapping a Korean couple for ransom in Bacoor, Cavite, the National Bureau of Investigation said.

The arrested suspects, identified as Cha Kae Ung, Lee Myeong Yong, Yoo Jae Kon and Chung Sun Ki, denied the charges when interviewed by reporters. The NBI presented them to the media yesterday.

NBI assistant director Lolito Utitco, however, said the kidnap victims, Kim Sung Wook and Bang Sun Mi, have positively identified the four as the ones who snatched them in Bacoor last Tuesday.

The couple, Utitco said, were detained in a house at Meadowood Subdivision, also in Bacoor, and were asked to shell out P2 million in exchange for their release. They initially gave $4,500 (roughly P238,000).

Unknown to the suspects, a certain Levi Hong, a female friend of the Korean couple who is married to a Korean, sought the NBI’s help.

Also, Jozel Santos, the owner of the Mitsubishi L-300 van the victims were riding in when they were snatched, filed a complaint with the bureau’s special task force headed by Marianito Panganiban.

The NBI agents conducted a follow-up operation, resulting in the rescue of the Korean couple and recovery of the van.

The NBI is readying charges of kidnapping for ransom and serious illegal detention against the four Korean suspects.