Duterte 'sorry' over police killing of Korean businessman

"I apologize for the death of your compatriot," said Rodrigo Duterte during his speech on Thursday. / Yonhap

By Lee Han-soo

Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has officially apologized over the assassination of a Korean businessman and vowed to capture the police officers responsible.

Jee Ick-joo was murdered in the headquarters of the Philippines National Police in Quezon City after being abducted from his home last October.

"I apologize for the death of your compatriot," Duterte said. "We are very sorry that it had to happen, but I can assure you, those responsible are known to us already and they will go to prison. I will see to it that they will be sentenced to the maximum. I am very sorry for that sordid incident ... Police XXXXX, I won't let you get away with it. You will suffer."

Duterte said he was embarrassed by the killing.

Only Ricky Santa Isabel, the alleged killer of Jee, is in custody.

Duterte said other suspects have 48 hours to turn themselves in or face a dead or alive bounty of 5 million pesos ($100,000).

In response to the assassination, police chief Ronald dela Rosa said he will disband the anti-drugs unit and rebuild it from scratch.

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