Six arrested over murder of Korean man in Guatemala

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- Six people, including two South Koreans, have been arrested on suspicion of abducting and slaying a South Korean businessman in Guatemala, South Korea's foreign ministry said Friday.
murder
"The police authorities of Guatemala on Friday (Seoul time) announced that they
have arrested four Guatemalan and two South Korean citizens who are suspected of
involvement in the slaying of one of our citizens there," the ministry said in a
press release.
The South Korean victim, identified only by his surname Song, was found murdered
in the Central American nation on Feb. 3, about two weeks after he was kidnapped
by a group of people earlier believed to be members of an organized crime ring.
Song owned a sewing factory in Guatemala, making him a likely target for
ransom-seeking kidnappers.
Officials at the South Korean foreign ministry said his abduction may also have
to do with his recent winning of a jackpot, worth some US$240,000, at a casino.
The two South Koreans arrested in the case were Song's acquaintances who were
with the victim at the time of his win, the ministry officials said.
The arrest of the suspects did not affect Seoul's travel warning on Guatemala as
the ministry earlier said there are over 80,000 estimated members of organized
crime rings in Guatemala while there are only some 30,000 members of the police
and military combined.
Six South Koreans were killed in Guatemala in 2009 alone, the ministry had said.
One of the four Guatemalan citizens arrested in the case was an intelligence
officer of Guatemala's armed services, according to the ministry.
Baek Ju-hyun, director of the overseas Korean nations protection and crisis
management division at the foreign ministry was notified of the arrest of the six
suspects by Guatemala's minister of internal affairs. Baek was dispatched to the
Central American nation shortly after Song's body was found, the press release
said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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