Accomplice in shooting deaths of 3 S. Koreans in Philippines arrested

SEOUL, Nov. 21 (Yonhap) — Police said Monday a 34-year-old South Korean suspected of collaborating with an accomplice in the shooting deaths of three compatriots in the Philippines last month was arrested.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) said they arrested the man, identified only by his surname Kim, in Changwon, 400 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday and asked a local court to issue a warrant to formally detain him.

The arrest came a day after his accomplice, another South Korean, identified only by his surname Park, was apprehended at a resort hotel in Manila on Thursday.

The two are suspected of murdering three South Koreans — two male, one female — who were found dead in a sugar cane field in Bacolor, some 70 kilometers northwest of Manila, on Oct. 11. All three had gunshot wounds to their heads.

According to police, Kim left for the Philippines in early October after Park, who he got to know through one of his acquaintances, offered to murder the victims in return for 100 million won (US$84,400).

Park allegedly plotted to kill the victims to siphon off about 1 billion won they had invested in a casino business. The three had fled to the Southeast Asian country after illegally raising some 1.5 billion won in funds.

Kim returned to South Korea on Oct. 13, as local authorities accelerated the probe into the case, police said.

Park, who has been running various businesses in the Philippines since 2010, is currently in custody by its immigration office.

South Korean police said it is planning to repatriate the suspect after he is done with all the judicial proceedings in the Philippines.

The three victims are among seven South Korean nationals killed in the Philippines so far this year, according to the foreign ministry.

Last year, a total of 11 South Koreans were killed in the Southeast Asian country, nearly doubling from the six tallied in 2012, the ministry said.

This photo provided by the National Police Agency on Nov. 18, 2016, shows a sugar cane field in Bacolor, the Philippines, where three South Koreans were found shot to death on Oct. 11.