Abducted South Korean found dead in Sulu

The Black Standard of ISIL, flag that was adopted by Abu Sayyaf
(Photo from Wikipedia)

Manila—The South Korean man who was kidnapped by the Waning Abdusalam Group (WAG) in the province of Sulu was found dead on Saturday.

Hong Nwi-seong, who was abducted in the town of Roseller T. Lim (RT Lim) in Zamboanga Sibugay province had been missing since Jan. 24 until Saturday when his corpse was found near Sulu State College in Jolo, Sulu, said police and military officials on Sunday.

Commander Vincent Boy Trinidad, chief of staff of Naval Forces Western Mindanao said to Inquirer.net that the corpse of Hong was in initial stage of decomposition. The body did not exhibit any gunshot or knife wounds. Hong was estimated to have died three to five days ago.

His previous kidnapper passed Hong to the Abu Sayyaf group. The group was linked to the global militant Islamist organization Al-Qaeda.

Hong flew to the country with his wife, Sik Young-lee, to visit their son, Hong Gobui. The younger Hong is an owner of a small restaurant and operator of a mineral processing plant in RT Lim.

The Hongs and two friends were having dinner in the son’s house when the kidnappers broke into the home, said Trinidad.

“They all fought against the seven kidnappers [who were wearing police uniforms]. Gobui, his two friends and his mother were able to escape,” an officer from the Anti-Kidnapping Task Force said in the same report.

Brig. Gen. Alan Arrojado, Anti-Terror Task Force commander, said in the same report that Hong was not killed but was left by the Abu Sayyaf in the area where he was later found “after the subject’s death due to illness.”

Hong’s type of illness was not reported.

The Abu Sayyaf initially asked P500 million in ransom but agreed later to a much lower amount as Hong’s health deteriorated, an anonymous government antiterrorism official said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. Hong was too weak to walk and was often transported on a horse.

It is unknown if ransom money was given to the kidnapper, said the anonymous antiterrorism official.

Yonhap News Agency in South Korea has reported that a South Korean foreign ministry official who refused to be named had confirmed the death of Hong.

“We will investigate with the Philippines authorities on how he died and in what circumstances,” the foreign ministry official told Yonhap.

The remains of Hong will be flown to Manila from Zamboanga city.