Seoul says media reports on Duterte 'overblown'
By Yi Whan-woo
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday recent media reports about Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s warning against Korean gangsters in the Philippines were “overblown.”
The ministry also said Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronald dela Rosa never mentioned anything about the possible presence of Korean organized crime behind the murder of South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo, 53, in October, as reported in the media.
“Duterte’s warning to kill Korean gangsters, which has been reported by some Filipino media outlets, is different from what he actually said,” the ministry said in a press release.
It referred to Duterte’s exact wording made during a media interview Feb. 4 when he cited intelligence reports and claimed that a Korean mafia-type gang in Cebu is engaged in prostitution and kidnapping.
“For those involved in the rackets of prostitution, drugs and everything, kidnapping, you will be treated as just an ordinary criminal, just like a Filipino. You don’t enjoy special privileges just because you’re a foreigner,” he said back then.
Concerning Duterte’s comment, several Korean media outlets reported that Duterte was warning he would kill Korean criminal suspects.
The ministry said it has been contacting the Korean Embassy in Manila and its Consulate General in Cebu to find out what led Duterte to bring up Korean organized crime.
Dela Rosa denied some Filipino newspapers’ reports about his alleged claim that a Korean gang may be behind the murder of Jee. “He met Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Kim Jae-shin privately and explained to him that those reports were distorted,” the ministry said. and certainly not true,” the ministry said.
There has been speculation here that Duterte and dela Rosa, the PNP chief, are trying to divert criticism away from Duterte’s murderous anti-drug campaign by highlighting crimes committed by Koreans there.
Jee was strangled to death in PNP headquarters in Quezon City on Oct. 18, 2016, after eight suspects, including three active and one retired police officer, accused him of drug crimes and kidnapped him near his house. They allegedly burned Jee’s dead body later to destroy evidence while collecting a ransom worth 5 million Philippine pesos ($100,300) from his family.