By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

A Korean male ``sex tourist'' in the Philippines was abducted by local gangsters and released seven days later after paying 50 million won ($36,000) in ransom, police said. Police suspect the case is among an increasing number of crimes involving local Korean gangs using the Internet.

The man, 42, only identified as Chang, flew to the Philippines on Nov.28 when some Koreans living in the Southeast Asian country he met online offered to introduce him to prostitutes for a bargain. He told his family that he was on a business trip.

However, when he arrived at the airport in Manila, he was kidnapped by a group of Koreans waiting for him. He was beaten and forced to call his family in Korea to ask for money. Chang told his family that he killed someone in a car accident and needed 50 million won for settlement, which they immediately sent.

He was released last Friday only after Filipino police started searching for the gangsters at the Korean Embassy's request.

The embassy received information about the gang from another 38-year-old Korean man who was also abducted by the same gang but managed to escape. Cho moved to the Philippines a month ago but was kidnapped.

The Korean and Filipino police have started a joint investigation into this new kind of crime.

bjs@koreatimes.co.kr