S.Korea Consul to Go to Southern Philippines on Kidnapped Citizen

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 08, 2002

S.Korea Consul to Go to Southern Philippines on Kidnapped Citizen

South Korean consul to the Philippines Chak Yung-Taik will go to the south of the country to negotiate the release of a kidnapped South Korean.

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South Korean consul to the Philippines Chak Yung-Taik will go to the south of the country to negotiate the release of a kidnapped South Korean.

The South Korean consul is set to arrive on Friday afternoon inSarangani where Yung Jae-Kyun, a South Korean national, was kidnapped on Wednesday, the Philippine Star on-line news reported Friday.

Chak and Carlos Bellonio, owner of a hotel in General Santos city in the province, were taken away by armed men when onboard a vehicle in a remote highway in the province.

A separate report here said the two victims, together with another six companions, were on a quest for supposed hidden treasure of nickel bars. The six companions, rescued by the military on Thursday, identified Salem Gogo, an alleged member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), as the key leader in thekidnapping.

Early reports quoted the military as saying that it conducted apursuit operation after the incident and arrested Abu Bandan, whois also believed to be an MILF member. The South Korean has reportedly agreed to pay ransom for the release of Chak.

However, the MILF denied on Friday its involvement in the incident, saying that neither Gogo nor Bandan was its members. It attributed the responsibility to members of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF).

The MNLF was set up by the jailed Muslim rebel leader Nur Misuari in 1972 to fight for an Islamic state in the southern Philippines. The MILF broke away from the MNLF in 1972. The MNLF reached a peace agreement with the government in 1996, but the MILF kept on fighting until recently when it also entered a peace talk with the government.

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