By Lee Kyung-min
Korean police have dispatched a team of investigators to the Philippines to help solve a murder involving a Korean national there.
It is the first time that the police have sent officers to investigate a crime taking place on foreign soil, the National Police Agency (NPA) said Monday.
It follows a November agreement between NPA Commissioner-General Kang Sin-myeong and his Filipino counterpart Ricardo Marquez to strengthen public security for Korean nationals there.
The NPA said the team of four officers headed to the Southeast Asian country in the evening to investigate the shooting death of a Korean man.
The team includes three officers specializing in investigation, crime scene investigation and surveillance camera recording analysis, respectively, and a National Forensic Service expert specializing in firearms examination. One Interpol officer from here accompanied them.
Upon arrival, the Korean police officers will cooperate with the local police to narrow down the suspects by conducting an on-site inspection, securing fingerprints at the crime scene and analyzing gunpowder residue.
“Investigation is about sovereignty, so the Korean officers will not directly investigate the suspects but support the local officers under the Philippine police’s consent,” Kang said in a media briefing.
But he said the Korean officers may question suspects or witnesses if the local police agree.
The dispatch comes a day after a Korean man surnamed Cho, 57, a construction developer, was shot dead by four armed men in his home at 1:30 a.m. in Malar, Batangas.
Police said they are looking into whether Cho’s murder resulted from a scheme by locals targeting Korean nationals, or committed by a business associate.
Koreans operating businesses there have been frequently targeted by locals in recent years, according to the NPA.
Cho’s death raised the number of Koreans murdered there to 11 this year alone.
According to the NPA, more than 40 percent of the murders targeting Koreans overseas occurred in the Philippines, with the numbers rising steadily at six in 2012, 12 in 2013 and 10 in 2014.
In October, an elderly Korean couple was shot dead by armed robbers on the outskirts of Manila, the capital.
In the same month, a Korean man in his 70s was found dead after being kidnapped by Muslim militants in Zamboanga in January.
Additionally, the Korean and Filipino police agreed to increase manpower dealing with crimes involving Koreans in the Philippines. Also, the NPA will provide the Philippine police with 130 police vehicles, 142 motorcycles and 142 personal computers.